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HISTORICAL GUIDE TO THE 
CITY OF NEW YORK 



THIS EMINENCE COMMANDING 

McGOWN'S PASS 

WAS OCCUPIED BY BRITISH TROOPS SEPT. 15. 1776 

AND EVACUATED NOVEMBER 21, 1783 

HERE, BEGINNING AUG. 18, 1814, THE CITIZENS OF NEW YORK 

BUILT FORT CLINTON TO PROTECT THE CITY 

IN THE SECOND WAR y^H^7\ WITH GREAT BRITAIN 

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED f^f/^^/y^ BY THE CHILDREN OF THE 

CITY HISTORY CLUB I o^^^ml^ I OF NEW YORK, A. D. 1906 




Prepared with the co-operation of and endorsed by 
The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society 



OFFICERS: 

Honorary President . . . J. Pierpont Morgan 

President ..... Dr. George F. Kunz 

Vice-Presidents 
Colonel Henry W. Sackett Frederick Devoe 

Honorable Charles S. Francis Dr. Henry M. Leipziger 

Treasurer ..... N. Taylor Phillips 

Secretary .... Dr. Edward Hagaman Hall 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

TO THE 

CITY OF NEW YORK 

COMPILED BY 

FRANK BERGEN KELLEY 

Fro7n Original Observations and Contributions 
Made by Members and Friends of 

The City History Club of New York 



WITH SEVENTY MAPS AND DIAGRAMS AND 
FORTY- SIX ILLUSTRATIONS 




NEW YORK 

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



6i- 



Copyright, 1909, by the City History Club of New York. 
The Excursions are copyrighted separately, the notice and date of each being 
given on the first page of each one. 

The copyright extends to all plates and cuts. 



p, ^ 248032 
SEP 25 1909 




September, 1909 



\ 



I 



^ 



DEDICATED BY 
> 

THE CITY HISTORY CLUB 

(by permission ) 
TO 

(President of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission) 

Jurist, Soldier, Statesman and Diplomat, 

A Lover of History, and 

A Loyal American. 



HISTORIC TRACES COiMMITTEE 

OF 

THE CITY HISTORY CLUB OF NEW YORK: 
I 

Editors of thl: Historical Guide 
Reginald Pelham Bolton. Ejjward Hagaman Hall. 

Associate Editors 

Randall Comfort Hopper Striker Mott. 

Francis W. Halsey. George W. NasA. 

Elsie Hill. August R. Oh man. 

Charles R. Lamb. Albert Ulmann. 

Frank Bergen Kelley, Chairman. 

Corresponding Members 
Thomas J. Burton. James H. Innes. 

Thanks are due for special aid in securing information and for the 
use of material to: Frank Warren Crane, William T. Davis, Henry 
Russell Drowne, Charles Hemstreet, Thomas A. Janvier, Ira K. 
Morris, Josiah C. Pumpelly, Frederick Van Wyck and many other 
students of local history. 

Cartographers: August R. Ohman, Reginald Pelham Bolton. 

Draughtsmen : Morris W. Ehrlich, Charles Kandel. . 

For permission to copy maps, thanks are due to : Edward Haga- 
man Hall, James H. Innes, A. Meserole, Harper Bros., W. W. ]\Iun- 
sell, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Chas. Scribner's Sons and Henry Dunreath 
Tyler. 

Official Photographer: Frank F. Evans. 

Photographs have been contributed by Randall Comfort, C. Irv- 
ing Jones and George W. Nash. Other illustrations have been used 
by courtesy of the Century History Company, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 
and the Long Island Historical Society. 

vi 



PREFACE 

The Historical Guide to New York is the result of prolonged ef- 
forts on the part of the City History Club of New York to discover 
and to direct attention to the yet visible traces of earlier times which 
lie hidden writhin and are fast disappearing from the city of to-day. 

When the society v^^as founded in 1896 to promote good citizenship 
through the study of history and civics and by the establishment of 
self-governing clubs, the need was felt for a systematic survey of and 
guide to the history of New York City in a simple and convenient 
form. In order to meet this necessity the Club first published, un- 
der the direction of a number of well-known writers, The Half 
Moon Papers, a series of monographs which were afterward incor- 
porated in two volumes entitled Historic New York. During the 
past thirteen years, twelve Excursion Leaflets have been prepared, 
designed to provide, at the lowest possible ptice, a brief but carefully 
verified historical description of every part of the city, compiled as 
far as possible from original sources. These pamphlets have been 
extensively utilized by members of the junior clubs, some of whom 
have by their use become competent as trained, and in a few cases, pro- 
fessional guides ; by the children of the public and private schools of 
the five boroughs ; and by many other persons who believe, as does 
the writer, that familiarity with the history of one's own city leading 
to a knowledge and love of the city itself is the foundation of true 
civic patriotism. The information thus gathered is now presented in 
complete form, thoroughly revised and illustrated by maps and photo- 
graphs. 

On behalf of the City History Club and on my own part, I thank 
the many faithful friends of the organization who have contributed 
of their time and knowledge to the compilation of this work. Some 
of their names may be found recorded on another page, but the full 
measure of skill and devotion which they have so generously expended 
can never be recorded. 

It is the sincere hope of the founder of the City History Club that 
this book may prove of real service to all those who desire to know 
the city better and to work more effectively for its future good. 

Catharine A. B. Abbe. 

Brook End, Bar Harbor, July 5th, 1909. 

vii 



GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 

" History of the City of New York," by Martha J. Lamb. 

" History of the City of New York," by Mrs. Burton Harrison 
(completing Lamb's History to 1896). 

" The Memorial History of the City of New York," edited by 
James Grant Wilson. 

" Leslie's History of New York," edited by Dr. Van Pelt. 

"New York," (Historic Towns Series) by Theodore Roosevelt. 

" Story of the City of New York," (Great Cities of the Republic 
Series) by Charles Burr Todd. 

" A Brief History of the City of New York," by Charles Burr Todd. 

For a brief classified bibliography, see Ulmann's " Landmark His- 
tory of New York." 

For an exhaustive bibliography, sec Bulletin 24 (35 cents) issued 
by the State Department at Albany. 

See also bibliographies at the beginning of each Excursion. 



THE SEAL OF NEW YORK CITY IN 1787. 

LEGEND (unabbreviated) " Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci: " Seal 
of the City of New York ; Eboraci being the genitive case of the 
old Roman name for York. 

SHIELD: Argent, charged with the four sails of a windmill proper; 
between their outer ends, two beavers proper, one in chief and 
one in base, and two Hour-barrels proper, in fess, one on each side. 

CREST : A bald eagle proper, rising from a demi-terrestrial globe. 
The beaver is an emblem of the fur trade, so important in Dutch 
days ; the sails and barrels represent the bolting industry, a 
monopoly of w^hich was granted New York merchants by the 
Bolting Act of 1678. 

SUPPORTERS (not heraldically part of the city arms and variously 
represented to-day) : dexter (right) side of shield, a sailor in 
dress and cap of 1700 holding in his right hand a ship's sounding- 
line; on the sinister (left) side, an Indian chief with a stringed 
bow. 

The sailor is said to be in honor of James who was not only 
Proprietor of New York but also Lord High Admiral of England ; 
the Indian represented the inhabitants and possessors of his 
Province in America. 

— From a Report of the Saint Nicholas Society. 



The Seal of the City History Club of New York shows the beaver 
which was an emblem common to the Dutch, English and modern 
seals of New York City. 



EXPLANATORY 

EXCURSIONS : the original twelve itineraries still issued as sepa- 
rate leaflets and numbered in the order of their issue. These are 
now arranged in order of topography, beginning with lower Manhat- 
tan. 

ROUTES : the Excursions have been divided into Sections, each of 
which covers sufficient territory for an itinerary of about two hours. 
Prefixed to the Section numbers are Route numbers (running con- 
secutively from I to 60) which are also placed at the head of each 
page (abbreviation R). 

TYPE. Bold faced type is used for landmarks, tablets or other 
memorials in existence at the time of publication (1909). 

Italics indicate directions in routes; historic sites. 

Small type indicates general historical accounts, descriptions of historic build- 
ings which have no visible trace or memorial. Small Capitals in such 
type indicate some place of importance represented by a name or memorial. 

KEY MAPS show the approximate location of the various Routes, 
the numbers thereon corresponding to Route numbers. 

PLATES : with but four exceptions the maps and diagrams have 
been specially prepared or redrawn for this Guide Book. 

The ILLUSTRATIONS in the text are from the set published by 
the City History Club ; the full page inserts, with one exception, are 
from original photographs taken for the Guide Book. 

NOTES : blank pages for original notes are placed at the end of 
each Excursion, as changes in New York City are so rapid, the old 
giving place to the new, that accounts of landmarks must be con- 
stantly amended. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface vii 

General Bibliography viii 

The Seal of New York City in 1787 ix 

Explanatory x 

PART ONE— MANHATTAN I 

New York's Development 3 

Route I. Bowling Green (Excursion VII) . ... 11 

Route 2. Trinity Church and Wall Street 23 

Route 3. Pearl and Broad Streets 30 

Route 4. The Battery and Governor's Island .... S3 

Fraunces Tavern (Excursion VI) 39 

Route 5. City Hall Park and Vicinity (Excursion I) . 49 

Route 6. St. Paul's to Wall Street 58 

Route 7. Wall Street to Franklin Square 61 

Route 8. Greenwich Village (Excursion II) .... 69 

Route 9. Lispenard's Meadows 77 

Route 10. Washington Square and Vicinity . ... 80 

Route II. Bowery Village (Excursion III) 85 

Route 12. The Bowery, Chatham Square and Collect Pond 95 

Route 13. Corlaer's Hook and Grand Street to Broadway 99 

Route 14. Union Square to Gramercy Park (Excursion V) 103 

Route 15. Madison Square and Vicinity iii 

Route 16. Love Lane and Chelsea Village 115 

Route 17. Murray Hill to Central Park 117 

Route 18. Bloomingdale 121 

Route 19. Morningside Heights and Manhattanville . . 125 

Battle of Harlem Heights 128 

Side Trip to Fort Lee 131 

Route 20. Kip's Bay to Horn's Hook 133 

The East River Islands 136 

Route 21. Northern Central Park (Excursion IV) . . 141 

Route 22. Nieuw Haerlem 147 

Route 23. Hamilton Grange to Fort George .... 151 

xi 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Washington's Headquarters (Morris or Jumel Mansion) . 156 

Route 24. Fort Washington 161 

Route 25. Fort Washington Monument to Fort Washing- 
ton Park 165 

Route 26. Fort Tryon 167 

Route 27. Kingsbridge to Inwoocl 168 

Route 28a. Colonial and Revolutionary Sites east of Broad- 
way 170 

Route 28b. West of Broadway to Cold Spring . . . . 171 

PART TWO— BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 175 

Historical Sketch of the Bronx 179 

Route 29. Kingsbridge to the City Line (Excnrsioii IX) . 181 
Route 29a. Two Hundred and Forty-second Slrect to 

Yonkers 184 

Route 29b. W^estcrn Bronx 185 . 

Route 30. Central Bridge to University Heights . . . 187 

Route 30a. University Heights to Jerome Park Reservoir . 190 

Route 30b. Williamsbridge and Wakefield 191 

Route 31. Harlem River to Hunt's Point 195 

Route 32. Western Morrisania, Fordham and Bronx Park 199 

Route ss. Throgg's Neck 203 

Route 33a. Westchester Village 205 

Route 34. City Island and Pclham Bay Park .... 209 

Route 34a. Eastern Morrisania, West Farms and Eastchcster 212 

PART THREE— BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN .... 219 

Historical Sketch of Brooklyn {Excursion XII) . . . 225 

Route 35a. Williamsburg 227 

Route 35b. Grecnpoint . . . . ' 229 

Route 35c. Bushwick 232 

Route 36. Brooklyn Heights to Borough Hall {Excursion 

VIII) 241 

Route 2)7- Fulton Street, Fort Greene Park and the Navy 

Yard 243 

Route 38. Prospect Park 245 

Route 39. Flatbush 247 

Route 40. Flatlands 249 

Route 41. New Lots, East New York and Canarsie . . 253 

Route 42. Brooklyn Bridge to Fort Hamilton .... 257 

Route 43. New Utrecht 259 

xii 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Route 43a. Gravesend and Coney Island 261 

Notes on Flatlands 263 

PART FOUR— BOROUGH OF QUEENS 269 

Historical Sketch of Queens (Excursion XI) 274 

Route 44. Hunter's Point and Steinway to North Beach . 277 

Route 45. Astoria to Steinway 281 

Route 46. Maspeth and Laurel Hill 287 

Route 46a. South on Flushing Avenue 289 

Route 47. Hunter's Point and Woodside to Corona . .291 

Route 48. Corona to Coe's Mill 294 

Route 49. Elmhurst (Newtown) 297 

Route 50. Middle Village 295 

Route 51. Flushing 304 

Route 52. Jamaica 310 

PART FIVE— BOROUGH OF RICHMOND 319 

Historical Sketch of Staten Island (Excursion X) . . . 324 

Route 53. St. George to Holland's Hook 327 

Route 54. St. George to New Springville 333 

Route 55. St. George to Arrochar 335 

Route 56. New Dorp 339 

Route 57. Elm Tree Light 342 

Route 58. Richmond Village 343 

Route 59. Greenridge and Great Kills 345 

Route 59a. Rossville and Woodrow 347 

Route 60. Tottenville 349 

Route 60a. Princess Bay 350 

PART SIX— SPECIAL ROUTES 355 

A. Routes for Children 357 

B. Water Routes 360 

C. Automobile Routes 363 

APPENDICES 

A. The Milestones and the Old Post Road 371 

Milestones in Bloomingdale 374 

B. Historical Monuments, Statues and Tablets .... 377 

C. Notable Historic Buildings 391 

D. Museums, Collections and Libraries 395 

E. Historic Trees, Rocks and Other Objects 403 

Index 407 



LIST OF DIAGRAMS AND MAPS 

PAGE 

I. Key Map, Borough of Manhattan 2 

11. Duke's Map, 1661-5 to face 7 

III. The Lyne-Bradford Map, 1728 . . . to face 7 

IV. New Amsterdam, 1644 12 

V. Routes i, 2, 3, 4 13 

VI. Trinity Churchyard 24 

VII. Governor's Island 34 

VIII. Region of Fraunces Tavern, Showing Changes in 

Water Line 40 

IX. Holland Map, 1776 50 

X. City Hall Park 52 

XL Routes 5, 6, 7 56 

XII. St. Paul's Churchyard 58 

XIII. Part of Montressor Map of 1775 : Greenwich and 

Environs 70 

XIV. Routes 8 and id 74 

XV. Anneke Jans Farm yy 

XVI. Routes 8, 9 79 

XVII. Portion of Ratzer Map, 1767 86 

XVIII. BouwERiE Village 88 

XIX. Route ii 90 

XX. Routes 12, 13 96 

XXI. Routes 14, 15, 16 104 

XXII. Route 17 118 

XXIII. Route 18 122 

XXIV. Route 19, Battle of Harlem Heights .... 128 
XXV. Route 20 132 

XXVI. McGown's Pass and Vicinity. 1776 142 

XXVII. Route 22, Nieuw Haerlem 148 

XXVIIT. Route 22, 152 

XXIX. Routes 23, 24, 25 160 

XXX. Fort Washington and its Related Fortifications 162 

XXXI. Routes 23, 26, 28a 166 

XXXII. Routes 27, 28a, 28b 168 

xiv 



PAGE 

XXXIII. Key Map to the Bronx . 178 

XXXIV. Routes 29, 29a, 29b 180 

XXXV. Routes 30, 31, 32, 34a 186 

XXXVI. Routes 30, 30a, 3Gb, 32 .188 

XXXVII. Routes 30b, 34a 192 

XXXVIII. Routes 31, 33, 34a . . . 194 

XXXIX. Routes 32, 34a 200 

XL. Routes 33, 33^ 206 

XLL Route 34 208 

XLII. Key Map to Brooklyn and Queens 220 

XLIII. Battle of Long Island 224 

XLIV. Route 35 228 

XLV. Greenpoint 230 

XLVI. Route 35c 233 

XLVII. Route 36 . . 240 

XLVIII. Route 37 244 

XLIX. Routes 38, 39 246 

L. Route 40 250 

LI. Route 41 252 

LII. Routes 42, 43 256 

LIII. Route 43a ' 261 

LIV. Old Tracts and Roads in Newtown .... 272 

LV. Routes 44, 47 276 

LVI. Route 45 282 

LVII. Route 46 286 

LVIII. Routes 47, 48, 50 290 

LIX. Route 49 298 

LX. Route 51 ." 305 

LXI. Route 52 310 

LXII. Modern Jamaica 311 

LXIII. Key Map to Richmond 322 

LXIV. Route 53 326 

LXV. Route 54 332 

LXVI. Route 55 336 

LXVII. Routes 56, 57, 58 340 

LXVIII. Route 58 . . . 343 

LXIX. Route 59 346 

LXX. Routes 60, 6oa 348 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

McGowns Pass Tablet i 

Manhattan, 1606; 1909 Frontispiece 

The Fort in Kieft's Day 4 

The Block House and City Gate 5 

Broad Street Canal 6 

The Purchase of Manhattan 16 

Bowling Green and the Battery 18 

Bowling Green and the Custom House, 1909 . . .facing page 18 

English City Hall and Trinity Church 27 

The Stadt Huys, 1679 facing pag^ 30 

The Clermont, 1907 36 

Former Appearance of Fraunces Tavern 42 

Fraunces Tavern, 1909; Washington's Farewell . facing page 46 

Croton Water Procession, 1842 48 

City Hall, 1909 facing page 48 

Sappokanican 72 

St. John's Chapel . 
Minetta Street 



,, , c-^ ^ / facing page 72 

95 Morton Street . . . ' / s y *> / 

Hudson near Watts Street. 

Collect Pond 94 

Hamilton Grange, 1804 150 

Washington's Headquarters, 1909 facing page 156 

Van Cortlandt Mansion facing page 180 

St. Paul's Church, Eastchcstcr ) r • o 

■D /- ^^ T- ji c facing page 198 

Poe Cottage, Fordham • • \ ^ i :^ 

Fulton Ferry, 1746 222 

Schenck House. Carnarsie Park . , . , 

Van Nuyse-Magaw Homestead, Flatlands / ^ _ ^^^.^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ 

Van Wyck House, Flatlands f 

Van Brunt House, New Lots . . . . ' 

xvi 



Van Werveer Mill Wheel . 

Gerritsen Tide Mill, Flatlands , . . ^ 

Lott Smoke House. Flatlands ^ facngpage 250 

Hand Made Shingles . 
King Mansion, Jamaica . 

Moorse House, Elmhurst . . . , , . ^ 

T3 u ^ ^ 171 u- \. . . . . facing page 2.7^ 

Bowne Homestead, Flushing . 

Quaker Meeting House, Flushing 

Guyon-Clarke House, New Dorp 

Lake-Tysen House, Karles Neck / , . ^ 

Christopher House, Willow Broo!. \ ■ ■ ■ ■ /""»« ^"^^ 324 
Moravian Church, New Dorp . 

Billopp House, Tottenville facing page 348 

15 Milestone . 

9 Milestone ..■.., . . 

I Milestone . . . .^ ' ■- /"""^ f"^' ^72 

New Utrecht Milestone 



PART ONE 

MANHATTAN 

Excursions VII, VI, I, II, III, V and IV. 
Routes 1—28 




Plate I. Key for Manhattan Routes. (". A.'. 

Roman numerals refer to EXCURSIONS; arabic to ROUTES. 



PART ONE: MANHATTAN. 
NEW YORK'S DEVELOPMENT 

AS SHOWN BY THE 

TRACES OF OLD ROADS AND STREETS. 

By Albert Ulmann. 
Author of " A Landmark History of New York." 

Tradition furnishes an account to the effect that the first habita- 
tions of white men on the Island of Manhattan consisted of four 
houses or huts erected in 1613 on a site now known as 41 Broadway 
where a bronze tablet commemorates this interesting circumstance. 
From this simple beginning the settlement grew until some thirty- 
cabins, clustered near the southern end of the island, constituted the 
little town. Then a general conflagration took place and much damage 
was done. 

Before this first of the great fires that have visited Manhattan, in 
1626, the lines of a fort were laid out, occupying the site of the 
present Custom House, the work being completed in 1633-5. In these 
days the shore line was less extended than at present so that the fort 
easily commanded the entrance to both the Hudson and East Rivers, 
the water coming up to the line of the present State Street. Fort 
Amsterdam, as the work was called, built of earth and stone and hav- 
ing four bastions, rose proudly above the group of small houses and 
became the distinctive feature of New Amsterdam. In the earliest 
views of the settlement, such as that of Joost Hartger published in 
165 1, it stands forth as the dominating landmark of the little hamlet 
that occupied the southern end of the Island of Manhattan. The main 
gate of the fort opened on the present Bowling Green, which from 
the earliest days was maintained as an open space. It was, in fact, 
the heart of the old Dutch town. It provided a playground for the 
children, a site for the May-pole around which the youths and 
maidens danced, a parade ground for the soldiers and a place for the 
great market and the annual cattle show. Here, also, those great 
meetings with the Indians were held at which treaties were ar- 
ranged and the pipe of peace was smoked, (Excursion VII.) 

3 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




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NEW YORK'S DEVELOPMENT 

The first streets were laid out in a haphazard manner and the town 
grew up in a random fashion, the first settlers placing their houses 
according to the dictates of their fancy. Thus footpaths and cow- 
paths gradually developed into thoroughfares and produced the tangle 
of streets that characterizes lower New York to this day. Naturally, 
roadways leading to the fort assumed shape at an early date, two main 
paths being established in this wise. One of these paths led to the 
ferry connecting the town with Brooklyn, the other passed north- 
ward in a general way along the center of the island. The first of 
these main roads was practically a shore path following the present 
line of Stone and Pearl Streets and terminating at about the present 
Peck Slip. The second fixed the line of lower Broadway, leading 
northward from the fort as far as Park Row (Innes says via Ann 
Street to Park Row), following this and the Bowery and passing on 
finally into the wilderness. A third pathway was established when 
the palisade was erected along the present line of Wall Street. 




Block-House and City Gate. 

Reproduced by permission from Todd's " The Story of the City of New York 
G. P. Putnam's Sons, 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Broad Street, 1663. 

Reproduced by permission from Todd's "The Story of the City .of New York": 
G. P. Putnam's Sons. 

Besides these primitive thoroughfares, two other thoroughfares were 
laid out at an early date. Along the present Broad Street a canal 
extended as far as Beaver Street where it narrowed to a ditch and 
drained a swamp that extended northward to about Exchange Place. 
On either side of the canal because, no doubt, of the pleasant sug- 
gestions of similar scenes at home, the early settlers erected dwellings 
and a promenade was thus established. East and west of the Broad 
Street canal there was a second ditch which in the course of time 
became a pathway and is now known as Beaver Street. 

The origin of Wall Street supplies another interesting chapter to 
the story of New York's old thoroughfares. The wooden wall that 
was erected along the line to which the name still clings was built in 
1653 to protect the town against a threatened invasion of New Eng- 
landers, " a lithe, slippery, aggressive race," whom the Dutch looked 
upon half in fear and half in scorn. The invasion never took place„ 
but the wall remained for nearly half a century and succeeded nobly 
in keeping the town from growing beyond its useless barrier. 




Plate II: Duke's Map, 1661-5 



\ I'l.m ol. l\l<^ ClUol" \l W NnUK iVolll ,111 <kIu,iI Sllix (•\ 






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Plate III : Lyne-Bradford Map, 1728 
Photographed from H. D. Tyler's Reproductions 



NEW YORK'S DEVELOPMENT 

In the meantime, the Indians inadvertently became the cause of an 
important road development. In the early Dutch days several bouw- 
eries or farms had been established northward of the town, the most 
distant belonging to Governor Stuyvesant, located in the neighborhood 
of Tenth Street and Second Avenue. In 1655, the Indians made a 
number of attacks on the outlying settlers, killing several farmers and 
their wives. As a measure of protection against such atrocities, an 
order was issued commanding all settlers to abandon isolated farms 
and to concentrate in hamlets. This led to the formation of a little 
colony in the neighborhood of Stuyvesant bouwerie and to the devel- 
opment of the road that connected it with the town, called in those 
days the Bouwerie Lane and, subsequently, the Bowery. Three years 
later the murder of a prominent settler who had purchased the flats 
on which the Village of Haarlem was afterwards built, led to the 
establishment of a hamlet in that neighborhood and to the extension 
of the Bouwerie Lane outward to the northern end of the island. 

An interesting representation of New Amsterdam's outlines and 
main thoroughfares has fortunately been preserved in the form of a 
map generally known as " The Duke's Plan," being a draft made in 
1664 for the Duke of York upon the capture of the town by the Eng- 
lish and showing how it looked in 1661 ; the original of the map is in 
the British Museum. 

In course of time, new paths beyond the " Wall " were developed. 
One of these along a rippling stream was called by the Dutch " The 
Maiden's Path," which the English later translated into Maiden Lane. 
Whether this title was due to its service as a lover's lane or, as those 
of a more prosaic nature allege, to its use as a spot where maidens 
went to do the family washing, will remain in obscurity. 

The tendency of the city's growth, as shown by a study of a series 
of the early maps, was northeastward, the western section, together 
with Broadway, remaining undeveloped. A map of 1728 from a sur- 
vey by James Lyne and printed by New York's first printer, William 
Bradford, clearly exhibits the direction of growth. It appears that the 
shipping interests extended along the East River and this factor in- 
fluenced the location of warehouses in the neighborhood, as well as 
the establishment of all sorts of business places near the ferry, in order 
to capture the Long Island trade. Broadway was, in reality, a distant 
and unfrequented part of the town. Near Bowling Green there were 
some five houses, but north of Crown Street (present Liberty Street), 
there was merely a stretch of open fields. On the map this section 
appears jis the King's Farm. The story of this farm is an interesting 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

and important chapter in the history of New York and it remains a 
factor to this day. In Dutch days there was a tract between the 
present Fulton and Warren Streets, extending from Broadway west- 
ward to the river, known as the Company's Farm, which was set aside 
to be tilled for the benefit of the Company's civil and military serv- 
ants. When the English came into control, this property became the 
private land of the Duke of York. In 1670, additional land was 
bought from the heirs of Anneke Jans, the farm being then ex- 
tended to about Christopher Street. When the Duke of York be- 
came king this tract was called the King's Farm and subsequently, 
in the days of Anne, the Queen's Farm. In 1705, the entire estate 
was granted to the " English Church in the Island of New York," 
(now Trinity) which still retains possession of it. No doubt this 
very fact, namely that the land belonged to the church, helped to 
prevent the development of that section, the inhabitants naturally 
preferring to build where they could acquire title to the land. 

In the meantime, that portion of Manhattan known to this day as 
Greenwich Village was developing along lines of its own. The 
original village occupied the region between West Tenth Street and 
the present site of Gansevoort Market. Here in the earliest days was 
an Indian settlement selected by the knowing Red Men for its fer- 
tility, good fishing and hunting. The Dutch converted the section into 
a farm and farmers were easily attracted to the fertile spot. For a 
number of years it retained its Indian title of Sappokanican, but 
about the year 1720 the name was changed to Greenwich. It grew in 
popularity and in the course of time became the abiding place of a 
number of prominent people. Naturally, a line of communication was 
established between the town and the village, the Greenwich Road 
along the line practically of the present Greenwich Street being the 
most direct route. This became a fashionable driveway, but owing 
to the fact that it crossed Lispenard's Meadows and Minetta Water 
where there was a causeway, and that after a rain the road became 
very bad, people frequently gave preference to the Bowery, turning 
westward at Astor Place where there was a cross road. 

As has already been mentioned, Greenwich developed along lines 
of its own, the result being that when the city grew up to it and 
streets were joined, a hopeless tangle ensued causing such extraor- 
dinary and startling occurrences as the intersection of West Fourth 
and Tenth Streets. (Excursion II.). 

The picturesque Bloomingdale Road which yielded to the aristo- 
cratic title of Boulevard and subsequently became plain Broadway, 

8 



NEW YORK'S DEVELOPMENT 

was opened in 1703, at which time it extended from about Twenty- 
third Street to One Hundred and Fourteenth Street. In 1795 it 
was laid out to One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street where it 
formed a junction with the Kingsbridge Road. Bloomingdale, which 
bestowed its pleasantly suggestive name (vale of flowers) upon the 
roadway that traversed its tract of fine estates, covered the space 
from about Madison Square to the neighborhood of One Hundredth 
Street and contained a number of stately mansions nearly all of which 
have been supplanted by crowded modern structures. The name 
survives in the designation " Bloomingdale Square," conferred in 
1906 on the open space in front of the Bloomingdale Reformed 
Church at One Hundred and Sixth Street and Broadway. (Excur- 
sion V.) 

Kingsbridge Road was the old Post Road to Albany and to New 
England. It has disappeared from the modern map. As in the 
case of the Bloomingdale Road, which it joined at One Hundred 
and Forty-seventh Street, continuing northward along the western 
section of the island, its name has been supplanted by that of Broad- 
way. 

The unvarying rectilinear and rectangular plan of streets that con- 
signed Manhattan to its prosaic gridiron was the work of a Com- 
mission consisting of Gouverneur Morris, Simeon De Witt and John 
Rutherford, appointed in 1807. This Commission, after four years 
of prodigious effort, evolved the monotonous scheme that has ef- 
fectively prevented the realization of a city beautiful. Some of the 
remarks of the worthy commissioners are decidedly interesting. 
" Circles, ovals and stars," it seems, strongly tempted them, but they 
did not flinch from their sense of duty. Acknowledging that such 
fanciful forms would certainly embellish a plan, they remembered 
that the city, after all, was to be composed principally of the habita- 
tions of men and that straight-sided and right-angled houses were 
" the most cheap to live in," and the effect of this economic reasoning 
was decisive. 

Referring to another problem with which the commissioners 
wrestled and which disturbed their consciences to a considerable de- 
gree, a statement appears as follows : " It may to many be a matter 
of surprise that so few vacant spaces have been left, and those so 
small, for the benefit of fresh air and consequent preservation of 
health." " Had New York been situated near little streams like the 
Seine or the Thames," reasoned the far-seeing commissioners, " a great 
number of ample spaces might have been necessary, but Manhattan 

9 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

being embraced by large arms of the sea, neither from the point of 
view of health nor pleasure was such a plan necessary." " Besides, 
considering the uncommonly great price of land," said the prudent 
commissioners, " it was along the line of duty to be economical." 
Another comment is worth repeating : " To some," they remarked, 
" it may be a matter of surprise that the whole island has not been 
laid out as a city. To others it may be a subject of merriment that 
the commissioners have provided space for a greater population than 
is collected at any spot on this side of China. They have in this 
respect been governed by the shape of the ground. It is not im- 
probable that considerable numbers may be collected at Harlem before 
the high hills to the southward of it shall be built upon as a city; 
and it is improbable that (for centuries to come) the grounds north 
of Harlem Flat will be covered with houses." This was just one 
century ago. Cautious commissioners ! " To have gone further," 
they explained, " might have furnished materials to the pernicious 
spirit of speculation." 



10 



EXCURSION NO. VII.— NEW YORK CITY, SOUTH OF 
WALL STREET. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley. 

Corrected with the aid of Albert Ulmann, J. H. Innes and Charles 

Hemstreet. 

Copyright, i8q8 and 1905, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate IV. Redrawn from Innes' Map of 1644. C. K. 

(From "New Amsterdam and Its People," by J. H. Innes. Charles Scribner's 

Sons). 



I 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

" The Dutch Founding of New York," by Janvier. 
" New Amsterdam and Its People," by Innes. 
" A Landmark History of New York," by Ulmann. 
" Nooks and Corners of Old New York," by Hemstreet. 
" When Old New York was Young," by Hemstreet. 
" Literary Landmarks in New York," by Hemstreet. 
"In Old New York" (articles on "The Evolution of New York" 
and "The Battery"), by Janvier. 

"New York Old and New," by R. R. Wilson. 

"The Story of a Street" (Wall Street), by Hill. 

" Felix Oldboy's Walks In Our Churchyards," by Mines. 

" History of Trinity Parish," Dix. 

Reports of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society 
(articles on " The Battery," " Castle Garden," " The Fort George 
Latitude Monument," etc.). 

" Historic New York," 2 vols, (papers on " Fort Amsterdam," 
"Bowling Green," "The Stadt Huys," "Old Wells," "Early Wall 
Street," " The New York Press," " Early Schools " and " Governor's 
Island"). 

This Excursion might be called " A walk through New Amsterdam," but for 
the fact that the section once known as New Amsterdam, and bounded by 
Greenwich, State, Pearl and Wall Streets, contains many English and Revolu- 
tionary traces as well as those of Dutch interest. 

To complete a survey of Dutch traces, the journey should be continued up 
Broadway, Park Row and the Bowery to the region of Stuyvesant's Bouvverie 
(Excursion III.). 

Before taking this itinerary, read Mr. Ulmann's article, p. 3, 
" New York's Development." 



13 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



^ 




£XCU/iS/ONy//\ 



Plate V. Routes i, 2, 3, 4. 



C. K. 



14 



Bowling Green MANHATTAN i Route 

ROUTE I. 

SECTION I— AROUND BOWLING GREEN. 

(Figures refer to Plate V; compare with Plates II, III, IV, VI, 
VII, and VIII). 

Take Elevated R. R. or Broadway car to Battery Place, or Siibzvay to 
Bowling Green. 

The original Hudson River Shore Line approximately followed Greenwich 
Street and the line of the Ninth Avenue Elevated Railroad to the vicinity of 
South Ferry Station. Greenwich Street (laid out about 1760) was the shore 
road to Greenwich Village (Excursion II). The map of 1695 shows palisades 
along Greenwich Street connected at the north with the wall on Wall Street. 
Remains of old posts were dug up when the foundations of the Bowling Green 
Offices were laid. 

Battery Place was the western extension of Marketfield Street 
and derives its name from the battery erected here in English days. 
(Section IV.) Note the old buildings at the foot of Greenwich and 
Washington Streets. 

Go up Broadway. 

Broadway was called the Heere Straat, the Heere IVegh and the 
Broad Way, and extended to Ann Street where it turned east and up 
Nassau Street to Park Row. 

I. Tablet on the Washington Building, i Broadway, erected by 
the Sons of the Revolution to mark the site of the Kennedy House, 
built about 1760 by Captain Archibald Kennedy, R. N., a member of 
the Governor's Council and Collector of the Port, later eleventh Earl 
of Cassilis. It was occupied during the Revolution by Putnam, 
" King " Sears, Generals Clinton and Carleton, but not by Washing- 
ton, whose headquarters before September 14, 1776, were at Rich- 
mond Hill (Excursion II). Later it was owned by Nathaniel Prime 
and became the Washington Hotel. The Washington Building was 
erected by Cyrus W. Field and from its tower and roof can be 
gained fine views of the harbor. Robert Fulton died in a house which 
stood just at the rear, 

9 and II Broadway are on the site of the tavern of Martin Cregier, a Dutch 
burgomaster, and of the King's Arms Tavern or Burns' Coffee House, where the 
Non-Importation Agreement was signed by New York merchants in 1766 (by 
some located at 113 Broadway). Benedict Arnold had his quarters here for a 
time. 

Note. So says Valentine, but Innes claims that Cregier's second house was 
on the site of 3 Broadway, and doubts whether he kept tavern here. There is 
also reason to doubt whether the name Burns' Coffee House applied to the 
King's Arms Tavern. 

15 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




i6 



Bowling Green MANHATTAN i Route 

2. 19 Broadway (see the sleeping lions on the stoop) was once 
the home of Daniel Webster. 

3. 27 Broadway, the Stevens House, was the property of the 
founder of the Stevens Institute. 

Morris Street was the open way to Bayard's Brewery. South of it lay the 
original Dutch burying ground. On the west side of Broadway were private 
residences during colonial days, and shops on the east side. 

4. Bowling Green, the heart of New Amsterdam and the center 
(north and south) of the Geater New York. Here some believe Peter 
Minuit purchased the Island of Manhattan in 1626. It was known as 
the Plaine and the Marckveldt in Dutch days and later as the Market 
Field and the Parade. Here were held the Dutch weekly market and 
annual kermess, and here the soldiers of the fort paraded. 'In 1732 
it was ordered fenced in and was leased at one peppercorn a year 
for eleven years to three citizens for a private Bowling Green, the 
lease being renewed for a second eleven years, at 20 shillings per 
annum. 

The Stamp Act Riot centered here in 1765, when Gov. Colden's 
coach, containing his effigy, was burned. Here, in 1770, was set up 
the gilded leaden equestrian statue of George III (made in London 
by Wilton, who also made a replica), which was torn down by the 
mob July 9, 1776, after the reading of the Declaration of Independence. 
The lead was converted into bullets for the patriots, but the stone 
cap of the pedestal and the tail and bridle of the horse may yet be 
seen in the rooms of the New York Historical Society. The stone 
cap was used as a tombstone to mark the remains of Captain J. 
Smith (see the inscription upon its face), and later was used as 
a doorstep by the Van Voorst family of Jersey City. The leaden 
pieces were dug up on a farm in Connecticut. The head of the 
statue was rescued by Cox, the proprietor of the tavern at Kings- 
bridge, and later given up to the British authorities. 

The iron fence was brought from England in 1771; the iron 
balls crowning the posts were broken off during the Revolution. 

Here the Federal Procession of 1787 was reviewed by Washington, 
and the Federal Ship of State, made and presented by the ship car- 
penters of New York, remained on the Bowling Green until 1789. 
Here, in 1794, occurred a riotous public meeting to protest against 
the Jay Treaty. About 1797 the Green assumed its present oval form. 
See the bronze statue of Abraham de Peyster, Mayor in 1691-5, and 
holder of many colonial offices 1685-1721. It was erected by John 
Watts de Peyster, George E. Bissell, sculptor. 

17 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




i8 



Bowling Green MANHATTAN i Route 

5. Custom House, site of Fort Amsterdam. A traders' fort, 
the original log blockhouse of 1615, probably occupied this site. Fort 
Amsterdam was begun in 1626, by Minuit, and was completed in 
1633-5 by a structure of earth and stone with four bastions, the main 
gate opening on the Bowling Green. The fort contained the Director- 
General's house and the Church of St. Nicholas, or the Church in the 
Fort, erected in 1642, and mother of the Collegiate Dutch churches. 
To honor the rulers of the Colony the name of the fort was changed 
successively to James, William Hendrick, William, Anne and George. 

After the demolition of the fort in 1790 the Government House 
was erected here as a presidential mansion, but was occupied by 
Governors Clinton and Jay. Later it was used as a custom house and 
was burned in 1815, when the land was sold and private residences 
erected thereon, which afterwards became known as Steamship Roiv. 
In 1902-7 the present Custom House was erected, Cass Gilbert, 
architect. See in the Collector's Office an inscription over the fire- 
place stating the history of the site. The statuary on the building 
is by D. C. French and represents the continents and the great 
trading nations of ancient and modern times. 

In Battery Park, opposite the west side of the Custom House, 
see the 

6. Fort George Monument, erected in 1818 by the City Cor- 
poration to mark the site of the southwest bastion of Fort George. 
This stone was unearthed during the excavation for the subway and 
was reinstated in 1907 through the action of the American Scenic 
and Historic Preservation Society and the New York Historical So- 
ciety. 

Go dozvn State Street to IVhitchall Street, passing 

7. Tablet at 10 Pearl Street, near State Street, erected by the 
Holland Dames of New Netherlands, incorrectly placed here to mark 
the site of the first city hall (see 33). 

8. 7 State Street, now a home for immigrant girls, one of 
the mansions of a century ago, on what was in 1800 one of the 
most fashionable residential streets. 

9 State Street is the site of the home of John Morton, the " rebel banker." 

19 



Route I HISTORICAL GUIDE Bowling 

9. Tablet, at 51 Whitehall Street, erected in 1904 by the 
Mary Washington Colonial Chapter of the Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, marks the site of Whitehall Ferry, where Washing- 
ton made his departure from New York in 1783. 

Schreyers' Hoek or Capske was the name given to the extreme end of the 
island, in commemoration of the Schreyers' Hoek in Amsterdam from which 
ships set sail, for America, Capske Rocks lay just south, beyond the original 
shore line. They were uncovered during the recent excavation for the 
South Ferry subway station. 

Go north on Whitehall Street. 

Whitehall Street was named for 

10. Governor Stiiyirsant's House, erected in 1658, later called the 
White Hall which stood on what is now the southwest corner of 
Pearl and Whitehall Streets. In Dutch times it was called the 
Marckvcldt, later Beurs or Exchange Street. 

Pcrel Street in Dutch days extended east only as far as Whitehall 
Street, and was probably so called because of the " pearly shells " 
found near it on the beach. It was laid out in 1633 and some of the 
first Dutch houses were built along it, under the guns of the fort. 
Pearl Street east of Whitehall Street was here called the Strand. 
The site of the 

Ti. First (wooden) Dutch Church is at 39 Pearl Street, not at 33, as is 
often stated. 

12. Tablet, at 23 Whitehall Street, erected in 1902 by the 
Knickerbocker Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, to 
mark the site of the house of Dominie Bogardus, whose wife, Anneke 
Jans, owned the farm which became the property of Trinity Church. 



Go east on Stone Street. 

Stone Strekt was first known as Brouwcr Straet, because on it was the 
Company's brewery (at No. lo); it was called Stone Street from the fact that 
it was the first New York street to be paved (with cobblestones in 1657). 
Adam Roelandsen taught the first school of New Amsterdam in his house on 
this street (about No. 7). 

The West India Company's five stone shops were on the site of the Merchants' 
BuUding. 



Go through the Stone Street entrance of the Produce Exchange. 

20 



Green MANHATTAN i Route 

13. Tablet (on the rear wall of the Produce Exchange, facing 
the court), erected by the Huguenot Society of America to mark 
the site of the first Huguenot Church, built in 1688. 

The White Horse Inn was at the northeast corner of Stone and Whitehall 
Streets. 

14. Marketfield Street is the little street facing the court of 
the Produce Exchange and in Dutch days was known as Marckveldt 
Stecgie (lane) when it connected with the Marckveldt proper. In 
English days it was called Petticoat Lane, possibly because it was a 
favorite shopping district for the ladies. 

Go north on New Street. 

New Street was so called because opened later than other 
streets in the vicinity (1679). 

Go zvest on Exchange Place and down Broadway. 

Note the hill, a trace of Vcrlettenhergh (Verlett's Hill), corrupted 
to Flatten Barrack by the English ; once a favorite coasting place. 

15. Tablet, at 50 Broadway, erected by the Society of Archi- 
tecture and Ironmasters of New York, on the Tower Building to 
mark it as the earliest example of a skeleton-frame steel structure, 
originated and designed in 1888-9 by Bradford Lee Gilbert. 

16. Tablet, 41 Broadway, erected by the Holland Society, to 
mark the site of the first white men's houses in Manhattan. They 
were built in 1613 by Adrian Block who, when his ship, the Tiger, 
was burned, built the Unrest near this spot. 

Note. — So says Booth's " History of New York." Innes locates this at the 
foot of Roosevelt Street, East River. The brook running to the foot of Roose- 
velt Street was long known as the Old Wreck Brook, and the cove at this part 
of the East River shore might well have furnished shelter to a small craft 
during winter storms. 

39 Broadway is the site of the McComb Mansion, where Washington lived 
in 1790. Note the irregular frontage of buildings north, authorized by the city 
government. 

17. Revolutionary cannon, 55 Broadway, forming part of the 
exterior railing. 

See the statues, by J. Massey Rhind, of Clinton, Wolfe, Stuyvesant 
ppd Hudson on Exchange Court, 52-56 Broadway. 

21 



Route I HISTORICAL GUIDE Bowling Green 

Go down 

Exchange Alley, by some supposed to be the old Tin Pot Alley 
(Tuyn Paat or Garden Lane), marked by a terra cotta tablet at the 
corner of Broadway. 

Valentine refers the name to 

i8. Edgar Street, connecting Trinity Place and Greenwich 
Street, one of the shortest streets in the city. See old residences and 
the Hotel Gruetli on the west side of Trinity Place. 

Edgar Street led to the Edgar Mansion on Greenwich Street, where April 
8, 1834, Daniel Webster made an address to the people on the inauguration 
of Cornelius W. Lawrence, first elected Mayor of New York. 

The IVcst India Company's Orchard and Garden occupied the land north of 
Exchange alley and west of Broadway. 



22 



Trinity MANHATTAN 2 Route 



ROUTE 2. 

SECTION II.— TRINITY CHURCH AND WALL STREET. 

19. Trinity Church. Original building 1696-7; burned in the 
great fire of 1776; rebuilt 1788-90; present building 1839-46, Richard 
Upjohn, architect. (See "The Church Farm" in Excursion II). 
The bronze doors designed by St. Gaudens (the gift of W. W. As- 
tor) representing Biblical and local historic scenes, and the Astor 
Reredos (the gift of J. J. and Wm. Astor). In a passageway at 
the north of the Chancel are the effigy of Bishop Onderdonck, me- 
morial windows to other bishops and some stones from the old 
building. In the sacristy at the south side are several pictures and 
memorial tablets including one to a party of Scotchmen who were 
shipwrecked off the coast of Sandy Hook in 1783. 

Among the Trinity tombs not indexed are those of Francis and 
Morgan Lewis, the English governors Sir Henry Moore, Osborne 
and Delancey and the wife of Governor Clarke. Note the elevation 
of the yard above Trinity Place, a trace of the original bluffs 
along the Hudson River shore at this point. 

The Lutheran Church (1671-1776) stood at the corner of Rector Street and 
Broadway, this spot afterwards being the location of Grace Episcopal Church. 
1808-46. 



23 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




24 



TRINITY CHURCHYARD. 
Index to Monuments in Trinity Churchyard. 






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25 



Route 2 HISTORICAL GUIDE Wall 

Go cast on 

Wall Street, so called from the palisade built in 1653 by Stuy- 
vesant to defend New Amsterdam, and removed in 1699 when some 
of the material was worked into the new City Hall. The Land 
Poort, or gate, was at Broadway and the Water Poort at Pearl Street 
where a Half Moon Battery was located. Bastions stood on the sites 
of the rear of Trinity Qiurchyard, 4 Wall Street, the Sub-Treasury, 
44 Wall Street and the head of Hanover Street. In 1673 the western 
line of the palisade was turned south to the shore at Rector Street, 
the wall was surveyed and Wall Street officially established in 1685 
by Governor Dongan. 

20. Site of the First Presbyterian Church, just cast of the head 
of New Street. Here Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield 
preached. The building was used as a hospital by the British during 
the Revolution. (Excursion II, 17, and Excursion V, Section 1:10.) 

Note the jog in the sidewalk at the northwest corner of Nassau 
Street (old Picwoman's Lane or Kip Street) over which Federal 
Hall projected. 

21. The Sub-Treasury, on the site of the Colonial City Hall 
(1699-1812). The old building contained the Court Rooms, Common 
Council Chamber, jail, a debtors' prison, accommodations for the 
fire department and a library, the predecessor of the New York So- 
ciety Library. In front, at the head of Broad Street, stood the cage, 
pillory, stocks and whipping post. Here was won the Zenger Case 
securing the freedom of the press, and here, in 1765, the Stamp Act 
Congress met. In 1785 it was used as the State Capitol and here the 
Continental Congress met. In 1788 the building was reconstructed 
by Major Pierre Charles I'Enfant (who later planned the City of 
Washington) and was known as Federal Hall. It was used by the 
first Congress under the Constitution. Here Washington took the 
oath of office on April 30, 1789. When the capital was removed to 
Philadelphia, this building became the State Capitol and so remained 
until 1797. 

Here, in 1804, the New York Historical Society was founded. In 
1812 the building was torn down and the present building erected 
as the Custom House which in 1862 was remodeled for a Sub- 
Treasury. Note the statue of Washington by J. Q. A. Ward, erected 
in 1883 by public subscription under the auspices of the Chamber 

26 



Street 



MANHATTAN 



2 Route 




27 



Route 2 HISTORICAL GUIDE Wall 

of Commerce. At the foot of this statue their was formerly a great 
slab of brown stone on which Washington stood while taking the 
oath of office. It has been enclosed in a bronze frame, covered with 
glass and placed upon the south wall of the interior of the building. 
Part of the railing of the balcony from which Washington delivered 
his first inaugural address is in the building of the New York His- 
torical Society and a second part is in front of Bellevue Hospital. The 
tablet on the west front of the Sub-Treasury was erected in 1905 by 
the Ohio Company of Associates to commemorate the passage by the 
Congress here assembled in 1787 of the Ordinance of 1787, and the 
purchase by the Ohio Company of Associates of lands in the North- 
west Territory on which, in 1788, they made their first settlement at 
Marietta. 

The tablet on the east front represents Washington in prayer at 
Valley Forge (presented by John T. Clancy; J. E. Kelley, sculptor), 
erected February 22, 1907, by Lafayette Post, No. 140, G. A. R. 

22. The U. S. Assay Office, z^ Wall Street, built in 1823 on 
the site of the Verplanck mansion, formerly used as the United States 
Bank and Treasury, is the oldest federal building now standing in 
Manhattan. Alexander Hamilton's law office stood at ZZ (formerly 
57) Wall Street, on the site of the Mechanics' National Bank. 

23. Bank of the Manhattan Company, 40 Wall Street, the 
second oldest bank of New York, founded by the Manhattan Com- 
pany in 1799 which, by the aid of Aaron Burr, was chartered ostensibly 
to supply New York with drinking water. Within the bank is a piece 
of the old wooden water pipe; the Manhattan water tank still stands 
on Centre Street, near Duane (Excursion HI 123) . 

The Merchants' Bank, 42 Wall Street, is the third oldest bank, 
organized in 1803. 

24. The corner stone of the Bank of New York is at the 

northeast corner of Wall and William Streets and bears the following 
inscription : " This corner-stone of the Bank of New York was laid 
June 22, 1797, by Gulian Verplanck, Esq., the President, Geo. Doolett, 
Architect." This is the oldest New York bank and one of the oldest 
three in the United States. It was founded by Alexander Hamilton 
and others in 1784, at the Merchants' Coffee House. 

On the corner of Wall and William Streets (near Governor Tryon's 
house) stood the marble statue of William Pitt, erected there in 
1770 to honor his defence of the rights of the colonists. It was 

28 



Street MANHATTAN 2 Route 

mutilated by British soldiers and may now be seen in the building of 
the New York Historical Society. 

At 52 Wall Street, in the Directors' Room of the New York Life 
Insurance and Trust Company, is the corner stone of the United 
States Branch Bank, which formerly occupied this site. The stone 
is dated June 13, 1797. 

25. Tablet, 56 Wall Street, erected by the Canadian Society 
of New York, in 1903, to commemorate Morris Robinson, first 
president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, who 
here established the business of modern life insurance on the American 
Continent. 

26. The old U. S. Custom House (now remodeled and the 
property of the National City Bank) occupies the site of the Mer- 
chants' Exchange (burnt in the fire of 1835) ; became the Custom 
House in 1862. 

27. Tontine Building, Wall Street, between Pearl and Water 
Streets, is on the site of the Tontine Coffee House (1793) where the 
Chamber of Commerce and many other organizations met. 

The Merchants' Coffee House was erected in 1740 on the southeast 
corner, and the region was known as Coffee House Slip. Here were 
held several important demonstrations by the patriots before the 
Revolution. 

28. Site of the Meal Market, also used as a city slave market, in 
the middle of Wall, near Water Street. Washington landed at Mur- 
ray's Wharf near by, April 23, 1789, when he came to be inaugurated. 



29 



Route 3 HISTORICAL GUIDE Pearl Street 

ROUTE 3 

SECTION III.—PEARL AND BROAD STREETS. 

This part of Pearl Street was in early days known as the Road to 
the Ferry. 

Go south on Pearl Street. 

29. At 119-121 Pearl Street lived Gen. Jean Victor Moreau, 
who tried to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte. Captain Kidd lived on 
the same site about 1691. 

Hanover Square, named for George I of Hanover, was the 
fashionable center, and " Printing House Square " of English New 
York. 

30. Tablet on Cotton Exchange, erected by the New York 
Historical Society, to mark the site of the first New York newspaper 
office, Bradford's New York Gazette, 1725. Other papers were pub- 
lished near by. 

William Street (named for William of Orange, later William 
HI), between Stone and Pearl Streets, was Burger's Path. North of 
Stone Street it was Smee or Smith Street, opened 1656-7. 

31. Marble tablet, 90 Pearl Street, commemorates the great 
fire of 1835, which destroyed $20,000,000 worth of property, between 
Wall Street (the old Merchants' Exchange) and Coenties Slip, and 
led to the more rapid completion of the Croton Aqueduct. 

2.2. Tablet, 81 Pearl Street, erected by the New York Historical 
Society, marks the site of Bradford's first printing press (1693). 

2.3. Tablet, yz Pearl Street, erected by the Holland Society, to 
mark the site of Kieft's Stadt Herbergh or Tavern (1641-2), which 
became the Stadt Hiiys, or first City Hall of New York (1653-4), 

Coenties Alley, or Stadt Hiiys Lane, is the original street from 
the shore to Hoogh (Stone) Street. The Stadt Huys was used as 
a jail, debtors' prison, court house, city hall and public storehouse. 
Governor Lovelace "had a tavern next door. A well, pillory and stocks 
were located on the river shore in front of the Stadt Huys. 

34. Coenties Slip is named for Conraet (" Coenties ") Ten 
Eyck, who lived here. The " Slip " was not filled in until about 1835, 
and the site is occupied by Jeannette Park, named for the Herald 
Arctic Expedition ship. Part of the Erie Canal fleet lies here. 

35. Fraunces Tavern, 52 Pearl Street, corner of Broad Street 
(see Excursion VI). 

In the middle of Eroad Street, just below Fraunces Tavern, was the first 
Merchants' Exchange. 

30 



Broad Street MANHATTAN 3 Route 

Opposite Fraunces Tavern, to the west, see the Bush Terminal 
Company's building; style, eleventh century Gothic, with gargoyles 
of old mariners' heads (as the upper floor is occupied by the " Jolly 
Mariners " dining club). 

Pearl Street was the original shore line from the east side of Whitehall 
Street north. At the foot of Broad (near Pearl) Street the Great Dock was 
located in Governor Dongan's time. Gradually the shore line was extended to 
Water, Front and South Streets, but the work was not completed until after 
the Revolution. 

Go up Broad Street. 

" Blommaert's Vly " was a swampy region, extending along Broad Street from 
Exchange Place to South -William Street, originally imperfectly drained by a 
creek running through the present Broad Street, which the Dutch converted 
into a ditch in 1647 and the Heere Gracht or canal in 1657. A street was laid 
out on either side of the canal, and it became a favorite residence district. 
After becoming a public nuisance, it was filled in in 1676. Traces of the swamp 
are found during the construction of tall buildings, it being necessary to ex- 
cavate many feet to secure solid foundations. At Bridge Street a small bridge 
crossed the canal. Stone Street, east of Broad Street, was the Dutch Hoogh 
or High Street, in English days Duke Street, connecting with Pearl Street at 
Hanover Square, as part of the old Road to the Ferry. 

Beaver Street, called Bever Gracht, led to the swamp in Broad Street, and 
was drained by a small canal or ditch. 

Go east on South William Street. 

36. Site of the Horse Mill or Bark Mill, 32-34 South William Street. 
This was one of the first mills built by the West India Company (1626). In 
its upper story were held the first regular religious services (1628-33) of the 
Dutch Church. Here, August 29, 1664, " by eight of the clock in the morning, 
at the Old Mill," took place the final exchange of the documents marking the 
surrender of New Amsterdam to the English (Innes). It was later used by the 
Jews until they erected their first synagogue on the opposite side of the street. 
For a time the building or a part of it was occupied by the negro slaves of 
the West India Company. 

37. Mill Stones in the rear of l8 South William Street (or of 
40 Beaver Street) supposed to have been used in this mill. Two of 
these stones have been placed in the foundation of the Temple 
Shearith Israel at 99 Central Park West, in commemoration of this 
first synagogue. 

Note. — So say some writers, but Innes states that the Jews never occupied 
Bark Mill and that their synagogue was on the north side of the street and 
several doors east of the old mill. He also believes that the present mill_ stones 
came from a later mill in this vicinity (see article on " The Bark Mill " in 
the " Quarterly Federation of Churches," Vol. Ill, No. 5, 1905). 

38. "Mill Lane," also known as Ellets' or Elliotts* Alley (con- 
necting South William with Stone Street), was opened in 1656-7 to 
connect Slyck Steegh with Hoogh Street. At 13 South William 
Street see house built in imitation of the old Dutch " crow-step " 
style. 

31 



Route 3 HISTORICAL GUIDE Broad Street 

Go west on Beaver Street. 

39. Ancient marble columns (brought from Pompeii) at the en- 
trance of the Delmonico Building, South WilHam and Beaver Streets. 

40. Marinus Willett Tablet, northwest earner of Broad and 
Beaver Streets, erected in 1892 by the Sons of the Revokition to 
mark the site of the seizure of arms by the Sons of Liberty from 
British soldiers, June 6, 1775. See representation on the tablet of old 
Broad Street and Federal Hall and the medallion head of Willett. 

Go north on Broad Street, passing 

41. Site of the Nezv or South Dutch Church on Tuyen or Garden 
Street (now Exchange Place) between Broad and William Streets, 
built in 1691-3, adjoining the land of the widow of Dominie Drisius. 
The land just below Wall Street, between Broadway and Pearl Street, 
was used by the Dutch as the first common or Schaap Waytie. 

42. New York Stock Exchange, organized in 1792 by a group 
of brokers who met first under a buttonwood tree in front of 70 
Wall Street, and held daily meetings a few months later at the 
Tontine Coffee House (see 27). 

After meeting in various places the present site, 10-12 Broad Street, 
was purchased in 1863. Traces of the old swamp made the con- 
struction of the present building (opened 1903) a difficult engineer- 
ing feat. 

The architect of the present building was George B. Post and the 
sculptor of the pediment (typifying the movement of American com- 
merce) was J. Q. A. Ward. 



3^ 



Battery MANHATTAN 4 Route 



ROUTE 4. 

SECTION IV— THE BATTERY AND GOVERNOR'S 

ISLAND. 

Take Elevated R. R. to Battery Place or Subway to Bowling Green 
and walk west. 

The original Battery was a line of cannon extending from the 
foot of Greenwich Street to the intersection of Whitehall and Water 
Streets. The work was begun by Governor Fletcher (1693) ''^nd 
strengthened about 1750. The land beyond this line was under water 
until after 180c. 

43. The Aquarium, built about 1807- 11 as the South West Bat- 
tery, to defend New York. Land under water was ceded to the 
Congress by the city for this purpose. The fort, about 300 feet from 
shore, later called " Castle Clinton," was built on a mole and con- 
nected with the city by a bridge. The embrazures for the 30 heavy 
guns may still be seen. In 1822 it was ceded to the State and in 
1823 leased to the city and in 1824 was leased as a public amuse- 
ment hall, known as Castle Garden. It was roofed over, and was the 
scene of Lafayette's reception in 1824. In 1847 it became an opera 
house. Here Jenny Lind sang (1850) and Kossuth (1851) was re- 
ceived. In 1855 it became the Immigration Bureau (until 1891), and 
soon afterward the remainder of the Battery Park was filled in. 
In 1896 the building was opened as an Aquarium, and was transferred 
in 1902 to the care of the New York Zoological Society. It is open 
free daily including Sundays (except Monday forenoons), from 10 
A. M. until 4 p. M. in winter and from 9 a. m. until 5 p. m. in summer. 

See within tablets, pictures of the orignal interior, bombproofs, 
the old fireplace in the cellar and the original casemates. Upstairs see 
a blue platter presented by the Misses Earle, showing the fort in 
1815. Note the great doors and sentry's exit. 

44. Statue of John Ericsson (by Hartley, and presented by him 
to the city in 1903), the inventor of the Monitor, which defeated the 
Confederate ironclad Virginia (or Merrimac), at Hampton Roads on 
March 9, 1862, and thereby saved New York from bombardment. See 
the commemorative tablets on the sides, representing the chief in- 
ventions of Ericsson. 

33 



Route 4 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Governor's 



MAP OF 
G0y£/IA/0J15 ISLAND 



5ection4 ExcurswnWI ^ 



/ £A TS/^S/OA/ TO &Oy£/BA/0/Z. 3 ISL A A/£> 




,^ 



^' 




Plate VII. Governor's Island. 



C. K. 



45. Flagstaff, a little south of the site v^here Van Arsdale tore 
down the British flag from the greased pole and raised the American 
Flag on Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783. During the tunnel 
excavation there have been found remains of the pier and plank 
road connecting with the original shore, built by Commodore Vander- 
bilt for his steam ferry to Staten Island. 

46. Governor's Island. (Secure pass several days in advance 
from Commandant, Fort Jay.) 

^ The Indian name of the island (about 65 acres, exclusive of the recently 
"made land") was Pagganclc. and the Dutch Noulcn, or Nut Island: it was 
bought in 1637 from the Indians by Wouter Van Twillcr. Here he built a 
saw-mill and pastured goats. In 1698 it was set aside by the Assembly for 
the benefit of the royal governors, hence its present name. It was temporarily 
a quarantine statian for (^erman Protestants or Palatines in 1710. In 1730 it 
became part of New York City and in 1788 of the County of New York! In 
1755 •'^i.'" Wm, Pepi^ereli's regiment en route for Canada was cpiartered here. 
In April, 1776, (!olonel Prescott's Bunker Hill regiment of Continental troops 
occupied the island and threw up fortifications which they held until after the 

34 



Island MANHATTAN 4 Route 

Battle of Long Island, when all retreated in safety to Manhattan. The British 
held it from i776 to 1783. Little remains of the old works except the well on 
the eastern side. In 1790 Columbia College was given possession of the island 
for a time with the right to lease it for a term of twenty-one years. The 
present fortifications were begun about 1794 and completed in 1812. Fort 
Columbus replaced part of the old works in 1809 and Castle William was com- 
pleted in 181 1. In 1800 the island was ceded by the State to the Federal gov- 
ernment, and in 1821 it became a military headquarters. In 1852 it was the 
chief depot of the United States Recruiting Service and military prisoners were 
confined here during the Civil War. In 1878 the island became the head- 
quarters of the Department of the East. 

Take Governor's Island Ferry, near the Barge Office. 

After landing, take central path, passing on the left the department 
offices and on the right piles of old ordnance. The Military Museum 
contains many relics of former wars. 

Fort Jay (old Fort Columbus) has a well preserved moat, draw- 
bridge, parapet and guns. The barracks here are still in use. 

Castle William is used as a military prison. 

Note the Saluting Battery on the south shore. Much land has 
been reclaimed from the bay. The South East Battery is a small 
work well preserved. 

The Chapel of St. Cornelius contains several trophies and com- 
memorative banners. The house of the Commander of the De- 
partment of the East is on the old Parade Ground, flanked by two 
cannon. 

Interesting water trips may also be made from the Battery to the 
Statue of Liberty (boats hourly, 25 cents), on Bedloe's or 
Liberty Island. This island was patented to Isaac Bedloe by Governor 
Nicoll when it was known as Oyster Island (called for a short time 
Love Island). Captain Kennedy became the proprietor after the 
death of Bedloe. In 1758 the island was purchased by the city for a 
small-pox hospital. About 1800 it was ceded to the United States. 
Fort Wood was built here as a defence for the city. Within the 
star-shaped fort is the Statue of Liberty, by Bartholdi, completed in 
1883 and presented by France. The pedestal was erected by popular 
subscription in the United States; the statue was unveiled in 1886. 
Note the view from the head of the statue over the Bay, Staten 
Island, Long Island, Manhattan and New Jersey. 

Ellis Island (pass secured from the Commissioner of Immigration; 
boats frequently from Pier i, North River). 

In Dutch days this was a favorite resort for oyster feasts, hence 
called Oyster Island. Later it was known as Gibbet Island from 
the fact that a pirate by the name of Gibbs was hung there. It was 
sold by the State to the National Government in 1808 and was long 
occupied by a magazine. In 1891 it became an immigrant station and, 
after a fire in 1897, the present buildings were erected, 

35 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




36 



NOTES 



37 



NOTES 



38 



EXCURSION NO. VL— FRAUNCES TAVERN. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley. 

Corrected with the aid of Edward Hagaman Hall, Secretary of the 

American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society and 

Henry Russell Drowne, Secretary of the 

Sons of the Revolution. 

Copyright, 1898 and 1905, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




JJra to n ly ZTawar^ ffa^^t m ^»/» J^'*' // J^^^ 



Plate VIII. Map of the City of New York Below Wall Street, 
Showing Artificial Growth of the Water-front. 



40 



MANHATTAN 3 Route 

•FRAUNCES TAVERN SITE. 

The site on which Fraunces Tavern stands was originally on or nearly on 
the edge of the shore line of the East River, subsequently extended two or 
more blocks by the filling-in process. In or before 1671 it caine into the pos- 
session of Col. Stephen Van Cortlandt, son of Oloffe Stevenson Van Cortlandt, 
a soldier of the Dutch West India Company, who arrived ai New Amsterdam 
in 1637 and was appointed Commissary or Superintendent of Cargoes at the 
Port of New Amsterdam. In' 1642 he married Anneke Loockerman, sister of 
the leading merchant of New Amsterdam and an Indian trader. He estab- 
lished a brewery on " Brouwer (brewery) Straat " now Stone Street, about 
1648, was Burgomaster 1655-65 and one of the Commissioners to arrange for 
the surrender of New Amsterdam. His descendants were lords of Van Cort- 
landt Manor. Col. Stephen Van Cortlandt built a cottage on the corner of 
Broad and Dock (later Queen), now Pearl Street, in 1671 and brought his 
young wife, Gertrude Van Rensselaer, here to live. The " Gracht " or Canal 
lay in front of the house until it was filled up in 1678. In 1700 he deeded his 
property to his son-in-law, Etienne (or Stephen) DeLancey, a Huguenot noble- 
man and an active merchant in the city. 



INDEX TO PLATE VIII. 

4. I Broadway, site of the Kennedy House. 

5. Site of gilded equestrian statue of George HI. 

6. Site of Governor Stuyvesant's house, erected 1658, later called 
the " White Hall." 

7. Head of Whitehall Ferry slip, as shown on Ratzer's map, 1767. 

8. Head of Whitehall Ferry slip, as shown on Hill's map, 1782 ; 
place where Washington embarked after his farewell in Fraunces 
Tavern, 1783. 

9. Fraunces Tavern. 

10. yT, Pearl Street, site of Stadt Huys. 

11. 81 Pearl Street, site of first printing press in the Colony of 
New York. 

12. Scene of capture of British arms by Marinus Willet, June 6, 
1775. 

13. Site of publication of first newspaper in New York. 



41 



Route 3 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Fraunces 




Former Appearance of Fraunces Tavern. 

Copied from Valentine's IManual of the Corporation of New York of 1854. 



Fraunces Tavern is one of the oldest buildings in New^ York City 
and was the scene of many stirring events diiring the Revolutionary 
Period. It divides honors with St. Paul's Chapel, Washington's 
Headquarters, and the Van Cortlandt Mansion in its connection 
with memories of Washington in New York. The building has 
recently been restored to its original proportions and is now open 
daily to the public. 

Location: Southeast corner of Broad and Pearl Streets, en- 
trance on Pearl Street. Take the Subzvay or surface down Broadzvay 
to the Bozvling Green; walk east to Broad Street and south to the 
Tavern; or take west-side Elevated lines to Battery Place and walk 
east to Broad Street. 

See tablet on the Broad Street side, a memorial to Frederick 
Samuel Tallmadge, through whose beneficence the purchase by the 
Sons of the Revolution was made possible. 

42 



Tavern MANHATTAN 3 Route 

CHRONOLOGY. 

1719. — Built by Etienne DeLancey as a residence. It descended to his 
son, Judge and Governor James DeLancey, and to his son, 
Oliver DeLancey. At some time before 1757, it became the 
residence of Col. Joseph Robinson, partner of Oliver DeLancey. 
James DeLancey having moved to his mansion on site of 
present No. 1 13 Broadway. (Excursion I, 25.) 

1757. — It became the store and warehouse of DeLancey. Robinson & 
Co., who announced in Gaines' Mercury, May 28, 1757, that 
they had " moved into Col. Robinson's late dwelling next to 
the Royal Exchange, and should there continue to sell all sorts 
European and East Indian goods — shoes, shirts, white and 
checked, for the army, with a variety of other goods." 

1762.— January 15. — Purchased by Samuel Fraunces, called " Black 
Sam," from his swarthy appearance, he being a West India 
Creole. Fraunces had been made a " freeman " of New York 
while an innkeeper in 1755. He opened here the Queen's Head 
or Queen Charlotte Tavern, nam.ed in honor of the young con- 
sort of George HI. 

1765. — Leased to John Jones as a. tavern, while Fraunces for a time 
took charge of Vauxhall Gardens. (Excursion I, 21.) 

1766. — Leased by Bolton & Sigell (Sigel). 

1768. — April 8. — The Chamber of Commerce, composed of twenty- 
four importers and merchants, organized, with John Cruger as 
President, in the Long Room, so called in imitation of the long 
Indian lodges used for tribal meetings. Monthly meetings of 
the Chamber were held for some time " at Bolton & Sigel's, 
precisely at the usual hour, six-thirty." 

1769. — Richard Bolton alone in charge. One or more meetings were 
held to concider the passage of a second Non-Importation Agree- 
ment. (Wilson's ]\Iemorial History, II, 39I-7-) 

1770. — Fraunces again in possession of the Queen's Head Tavern, 
" refitted in the most genteel and convenient manner for the 
reception and entertainment of those gentlemen, ladies and others 
who used to favor him with their company," dinners and suppers 
being served " not only to lodge'rs but to those who live at a 
convenient distance." The Long Room was also used for a 
series of lectures. 

43 



Route 3 HISTORICAL GUIDE Fraunces 

1774. — May 14. — A meeting of merchants was held here to organize 
the " Committee of Correspondence," to whose firm and con- 
sistent adherence to the idea of union, the Continental Congress 
owed its origin. (Wilson, II, p. 434.) It was also the head- 
quarters of the Social Club, among whose members were John 
Jay, Gouverneur Morris, R. R. Livingston and Morgan Lewis. 

1775. — The Massachusetts delegates to the Second Continental Con- 
gress stopped here on their way to Philadelphia. 

1775. — August 23. — The building was struck by a shot from the man- 
of-war Asia, giving rise to the oft-quoted lines of Philip Freneau : 

" Scarce a broadside was ended till 'nother began again. 
By Jove ! It was nothing but fire away, Flanagan ! 
Some thought him saluting his Sallys and Nancys, 
'Till he drove a round shot through the roof of Sam Francis." * 

* Ed. of 1786 reads: 

" At first we supposed it was only a sham. 

Till he drove a round ball through the roof of black Sam." 

1776. — Fraunces' daughter Phoebe revealed the plot to assassinate 
Washington,, leading to the execution of her lover, Hickey, who 
was a British deserter and had become one of Washington's 
bodyguard. At the time Phoebe was acting as housekeeper 
for the Commander at his headquarters in the Richmond Hill 
Mansion (Excursion II). Fraunces joined the American army, 
and it is supposed that he had to give up the Tavern during the 
British occupancy of New York, but he assumed ownership im- 
mediately after the war and continued in possession for some 
years. In 1789 he became Washington's steward. . 

1783. — November 25. — Governor George Clinton gave a banquet on 
. Evacuation Day to General Washington, the French ambassador, 
Chevalier de la Luzerne, and many Revolutionary officers and 
civilian's. Thirteen toasts were given, beginning with " The 
United States of America " and ending with " May This Day 
Be a Lesson for Princes." Fireworks followed on the Bowling 
Green. 

1783, December 4. — Washington's Farewell to 44 officers, includ- 
ing Generals Greene, Knox, Wayne, Steuben, Carroll, Lincoln, 
Kosciusko, Moultrie, and Hamilton, Governor Clinton, Col. Tall- 
madge and others. Says Col. Tallmadge : 



Tavern MANHATTAN 3 Route 

" We had been assembled but a few minutes when His Excellency entered the 
room. His emotion, too strong to be concealed, seemed to be reciprocated by 
every officer present. After partaking of a slight refreshment amid almost 
breathless silence, the General filled his glass with wine and turning to his 
officers said: ' With a heart full of love and gratitude I must now take my 
leave of yoj. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as pros- 
perous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.* 
After the officers had taken a glass of wine, the General added: * I cannot 
come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to you if each will 
come and take me by the hand.' General Knox, being nearest to him, turned 
to the Commander-in-Chief, who, suffused in tears, was incapable of utterance, 
but grasped his hand, when they embraced each other in silence. In the same 
affectionate manner every officer in the room marched up to, kissed and parted 
with his General-in-Chief. Such a scene of sorrow and weeping I had never 
before witnessed, and hope I may never be called upon to witness again. Not 
a word was uttered to break the solemn silence that prevailed, or to interrupt 
the tenderness of the occasion." 

Thence Washington proceeded to the Whitehall Ferry (Excursion 
VII :9) and took his departure from the city. 

1785. — The Tavern was sold by Fraunces and came into various 
hands. After the Revolution the St. Andrew's Society, the 
Governors of the New York Hospital, the New York Society 
and the Society for Promoting Arts and Agriculture, all met 
here. Balls were also held in the Long Room. 

1832. — Interior partly burnt out and a flat roof added. 

1837. — Leased by John Gardner, a hotel proprietor who had been burnt 
out in the great fire of 1835. 

1852, June 15. — While called the Broad Street House and kept by E. 
Beaumeyer, the Tavern was visited by a very disastrous fire, 
after which two stories were added, making it five stories high. 
Further alterations were made about 1890, when the taproom 
was lowered to the level of the street and the ground floor win- 
dows modernized. 

1883, December 4. — On the looth anniversary of Washington's 
Farewell the Society of the Sons of the Revolution was formally 
organized in the Long Room and met here annually for many 
years. 

1889-1903. — At the time of the centennial celebration of Washington's 
inauguration (1889), attention was directed to the interesting 
historical associations of the building, and during the next 
thirteen years earnest efforts were made by patriotic individuals 

45 



Route 3 HISTORICAL GUIDE , Fraunces 

and societies, including the Sons of the Revokitlon, Sons of the 
American Revokition, Daughters of the American Revolution, the 
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society and the 
Women's Auxiliary to the Historic and Scenic Preservation So- 
ciety, which resulted, in 1903, in the passage of an ordinance by 
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to buy the Tavern 
and half of the block on which it stands for a Revolutionary 
museum and park. After various vicissitudes tke ordinance was 
rescinded, because it was learned that through the bequest of 
their late President, Frederick S. Tallmadge, the property could 
be acquired by the Sons of the Revolution. 

T904, April II. — A committee was appointed and the purchase of the 
building for the Society was effected in May, the transfer being 
recorded in the Register's Office on July 30. 

1906-7. — Restoration of the building. 

1907, ]May I. — Office of the Sons of the Revolution opened here. 

1907, December 4. — Formal occupation and dedication by the Sons 
of the Revolution. 

THE BUILDING AND ITS RESTORATION. 

There is no known view of Fraunces Tavern before 1854. Fraunces' 
own description when he offered the building for sale in 1776 reads as 
follows : " The Queen's Head Tavern is three stories high, with a 
tile and lead roof, has fourteen fireplaces, a most excellent large kitchen, 
fine dry cellars, with good convenient offices, etc." 

The view of New York from Brooklyn Heights, in 1798, shows its 
top as gambrel-roofcd and hipped. See Hollyer's print of its proposed 
restoration in Mrs. Pierce's " Landmark of Fraunces Tavern." Also 
see views in the Magazine of American History, Vol. VIII, p. 144, 
and in Bryant and Gay's " Popular History of the U. S.," showing 
alterations in the first story. 

The architect of the restored building was William H. Mersereau 
and the contractor S. A. McGuire. Mr. Mersereau has endeavored 
to restore the building so far as possible to its original form. When 
the added stories were taken down he studied and followed the old 
roof-lines and rafters. The modern bricks and stone were removed 

45 



Tavern MANHATTAN 3 Route 

and yellow bricks to match the orighials were imported from Hol- 
land for the Broad Street side, and on the Pearl Street side the 
old style red bricks were matched with bricks from old dwellings in 
the vicinity of Baltimore, Md. The first floor was raised to its former 
level, the windows changed to conform with the original ones and the 
Long Room restored to its old dimensions. All the original timbers 
were retained above and below the Long Room and every brick and 
piece of lumber, so far as possible, of the original building was left 
in place. The present appearance of the building is believed to be 
practically the same as during the Revolutionary period. 

The first floor is still used as a restaurant. 

On the second floor is the celebrated Long Room; note the 
portraits of Frederick Samuel Tallmadge and John Austin Stevens, 
the table made from old timbers of the building and the tablets. 

In the Museum on the third floor are cases holding Revolution- 
ary relics. — flags, china, coins, medals, military commissions, letters, 
deeds and other old documents. 



47 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




E o 



^5 



U .'i 



48 



EXCURSION NO. I.— CITY HALL TO WALL STREET. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley 

Corrected with the aid of Albert Ulmann and Edward Hagaman 

Hall. 

Copyright, 1902, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




MANHATTAN 5 Route 

Bibliography 

Works by Janvier, Ulmann, Hemstreet, Wilson and Hill mentioned 

in Excursion VH. 
" Historic New York ;" papers on " King's College," " Old Wells," 

" Old Prisons and Old Taverns." 
"Reports of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society: 

articles on " The Centenary of City Hall," and " The Old 

Martyrs' Prison." 
" Works of Art Belonging to the City of New York," compiled by 

the Municipal Art Commission. 
"St. Paul's Chapel," by Charles F. Wingate, and "The Montgomerie 

Siege," by T. U. Harper (pub. by A. B. King & Co.). 

This part of New York was not settled until long after the Dutch flag 
ceased to wave over New Amsterdam. Cit^ Hall Park was the old Dutch 
Vlact (Flat) or pasture, later called the Commons, granted to the city cor- 
poration in 1686 by the Dongan charter. During the later English period 
and the days of the Revolution it was a place for public demonstrations, mass 
meetings, etc. It was fenced in about 1785, and an iron rail fence was pro- 
vided in 1 82 1, with gates on the south, west and east sides. 

The main thoroughfare was lower Broadway, Chatham Street (now Park 
Row) and the Bowery. The shore line has been extended two or three blocks 
on either side. The King's Farm, which lay west of Broadway, between Wall 
and Warren Streets, originally belonged to the West India Company and was 
later granted, together with the Jans or Bogardus Farm north of Warren 
Street (Excursion II) to Trinity Church. Many of the street names have a 
direct connection with early residents. 



INDEX TO HOLLAND MAP 

G Meat Market. T Lutheran Church 

H Fly Market. V Calvinist Church. 

I Peck's Market. W French Protestant Church. 

K Oswego Market. X Quaker Meeting. 

O St. Paul's. Y Presbyterian Meeting. 

P Trinity. Z Baptist Meeting. 

Q St. George's Chapel. a Moravian Meeting. 

S New Dutch Church. b New Lutheran Meeting. 



51 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 5. 

SECTION I— CITY HALL PARK AND VICINITY. 

(Figures refer to Plates X and XL, see also IX and XII). 

Take Subway to Brooklyn Bridge or City Hall. 



CHAM BE US ST. 










sub»^«y 



© 




^ /^KAmFOXT 







^J^ 



PIA&JZAM OF 

C/Ty//ALL PAR.H 
AND V/CJN/n 



Plate X. Route 5. 



C K, 



52 



City Hall MANHATTAN 5 Route 

I. City Hall, a fine example of the Italian Renaissance, John 
McComb, Jr., architect. The foundation stone was laid on the site 
of the old almshouse by Mayor Edward Livingston, September 20, 
1803. The front and sides are of Stockbridge (Mass.) marble, the 
rear built of brownstone from motives of economy; the common 
assertion that it was due to the idea that the city would not extend 
north of the building being untrue, as the city had already advanced 
beyond Chatham Square. The building was first occupied by the city 
government on July 4, 1810, although it was not completed until 1812, 
in the mayoralty of DeWitt Clinton. Among the important events 
celebrated here were the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Man- 
hattan by Henry Hudson, Captain Hull's victory over the British 
ship Guerriere, the visit of Lafayette in 1824, the opening of the Erie 
Canal, November 4, 1825; the Croton Water opening, October 14, 
1842; the laying of the Atlantic Cable, 1858 (at which time the 
building caught fire and was badly injured) ; the funeral of General 
Worth, 1857; the visit of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, i860, and 
the 250th anniversary of the City Charter, 1903. The building is open 
from 10 to 4; Saturday 10 to 12. 

Ascend the spiral staircase to the Governors' Room; see por- 
traits of Washington and General James Clinton by Trumbull, Peter 
Stuyvesant, Alexander Hamilton and governors from 1777; busts of 
DeWitt Clinton and Henry Clay, a portrait of Washington woven in 
silk ; a section of Stuyvesant's pear tree ; punch bowl used at the Erie 
Canal celebration; battle flags of the First New York Regiment; 
two desks of Washington and the furniture used in the former City 
Hall by the Federal Congress (Excursion VH, 21). A good view 
of the park and its surroundings may be obtained from the balcony. 

The Aldermanic Chamber contains some portraits and a paint- 
ing symbolic of New York City's commercial greatness. In the ad- 
joining Committee Room are portraits of Harry Howard in the uni- 
form of a Volunteer Fireman and of General McClellan. The old 
Council Chamber, now used by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
ment, contains portraits of national celebrities. 

On the ground floor are the Mayor's Reception Room contain- 
ing portraits of Lafayette and of former mayors, and on the ceiling 
plaster reproductions of seals of the United States, of New York 
State and City from early days; the City Library, comprising 7,000 
volumes, some of great value, and the Bureau of Marriage Licences. 

53 



Route 5 HISTORICAL GUIDE City Hali 

In the corridor see a marble tablet, erected in 1903, between and 
descriptive of two tablets (originally on the roof) containing the 
names of the architect, sculptor and of the building committee. 
On the opposite wall note the Dutch and Federal standard yard 
measure. 

In the basement are the Marriage Room, Bureau of Licenses and 
some rooms once used as prison cells when the Police Headquarters 
were here. 

Outside, beneath the Mayor's Window, see the tablet commemorat- 
ing the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the army here, 
in Washington's presence, July 9, 1776. (See painting of this event 
in the New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West Forty-second Street). 

A tablet in the sidewalk in front of the building marks the first 
excavation for the Rapid Transit Tunnel in 1900; another tablet 
in the City Hall Subway Station commemorates the opening of the 
Tunnel in 1904. A portion of the tunnel of the once proposed Pneu- 
matic Rapid Transit Railway, constructed in 1868, still Remains un- 
der Broadway along the Park. 

The Bridewell or common jail, built in 1775, and used by the 
British as a prison, stood between Broadway and the site of City 
Hall. It was torn down in 1838, the stones being used to build the 
old Tombs Prison. Its great lock and key' are in the building of the 
New York Historical Society. 

2. The Statue of Nathan Hale, by Mac Monnies, near Broad- 
way, opposite Murray Street, was erected by the Sons of the 
Revolution. (Excursion V, Section 7.) 

3. New York Post Office, the third building used in the city for 
the purpose, built in 1875 on part of City Hall Park ceded in 1867 
by the City to the National Government. Within the corridor, near 
the western entrance, is a tablet erected in 1897 by the Mary Wash- 
ington Colonial Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolu- 
tion to commemorate the erection of the Liberty Pole and the Battle 
of Golden Hill (see 33 and 38). One Liberty Pole stood on the City 
Common about the middle of Mail Street and another stood near 
Broadway at Warren Street. 

In the southeast corridor is a bust and memorial tablet in 
honor of Postmaster Pierson for his services in reforming the 
postal system. 

54 



Park MANHATTAN 5 Route 

4. Fountain, erected about 1873 ji-^st north of the site of the 
original fountain of 1842 which celebrated the opening of the 
Croton Aqueduct. 

Go north through the Park to 

5. The County Court House, on the site of the American In- 
stitute, in the upper story of which was Scudder's Museum. 

Chambers Street marks the line of the fortifications and British barracks 
during the Revolution; a negro burying ground occupied the site of the Stewart 
and Dunn Buildings on the east side of Broadway. 

6. The brown stone building east of the Court House, now the 
City Court, occupies the site of the Rotunda once used for the city 
post office, before 1845, and later an art gallery. 

7. The new Hall of Records at Centre and Chambers Streets. 
See the statues of Duane, Colden, Hone, Heathcote, Stuyvesant, De 
Vries and Clinton by Philip Martiny ; allegorical statues by Martiny 
and Bush-Brown; groups representing the recording of the purchase 
of Manhattan in 1626 and the consolidation of Greater New York, 
1898, by Albert Weinert. The interior of the building is well worth a 
visit. The Register will. allow visitors to inspect the old city records 
and maps dating back to Dutch days. 

8. Site of the iirst Free School building of New York City in Ot- 
tendorfer Square. It was erected in 1809 on what was then called 
Tryon Row, corner of Chatham Street, near the new terminal of the 
Brooklyn Bridge. 

Go south along the edge of the Park to the 

9. Tablet, erected in 1907 by the Mary Washington Colonial 
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, on a granite 
monument in the Park, nearly opposite the Brooklyn Bridge terminal, 
marking the site of the old Register's Office which was built in 1758 
as a debtors' prison. It became the Provost or British military prison 
during the Revolution and was the scene of great brutality to prison- 
ers on the part of Provost-Marshall Cunningham. On the second 
floor (called derisively "Congress Hall") were confined prisoners of 
note, among them Ethan Allen. Beneath the building were four 
gloomy dungeons. The building was torn down in 1903 to make way 
for the Subwa}^ During its demolition coins, buttons and human 
bones were found in the excavation. 

Go dozvn Park Row 
on the line of the early road to Stuyvesant's Bowery (Excursion III., 
Section 2), and later forming a portion of the Post Road. 

55 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




56 



Park Row MANHATTAN 5 Route 

10. The Sun Building, originally the first permanent building of 
Tammany Hall (erected 1811), which had been organized at Borden's 
Tavern in lower Broadway in 1789 and moved to " Martling's " (cor- 
ner of Spruce and Nassau Streets) in 1798. In Tammany Hall the 
political term " Loco foco " originated in 1834. 

Frankfort Street, " Newspaper Alley," was named for the birth- 
place of Jacob Leisler who was executed for treason in 1691 on 
his own farm near by. 

A fine view of all lower Manhattan and the Bay may be obtained 
from the top of the tower in the World Building. 

11. Statue of Benjamin Franklin, designed by Plassman, and 
presented in 1867 by Captain Albert de Groot to the printers and 
press of New York. 

12. Statue of Horace Greeley, founder of the " New York Tri- 
bune " (designed by Ward and presented to the city in 1890) near 
the Tribune Building. 

13. Statues of Franklin and Gutenberg on the front of the 
" Staats Zeitung" Building, Spruce and William Streets. 

14. The Vineyard Lot occupied the block between Park Row, Nassau and 
Beekman Streets, and the block below was called the Governor's Garden be- 
cause purchased by Governor Dongan in 1685. 

The old Times and Potter Buildings are on the site of the Brick Presby- 
terian Church, built in 1768; used during the Revolution as a British prison 
and moved about 1854 to Thirty-seventh Street and Fifth Avenue. (Excursion 
V, Section 4:2). 

On the block directly south is the site of the first Clinton Hall (1830), an 
early home of the Mercantile Library. (Excursion III, Section i). 

15. Dolan's Restaurant, S3 Park Row, contains a model of the 
buildings on this block as they stood about 1800, including the 
present structures at 33, 34, 35 Park Row, the corner being then 
known as Love joy's Hotel. It also shows the Park Theatre just be- 
low, the site now covered by the Park Row Building, 13-17 Park 
Row. The theatre was erected in 1798, burned in 1820, rebuilt in 
1821 and again burned in 1848. In 1842 a ball was given here in 
honor of Charles Dickens. 

16. Theatre Alley, joining Beekman and Ann Streets, was the 
stage passage to the Park Theatre. The restaurant kitchen here was 
the laundry of Lovejoy's Hotel. 

17. Site of Barnum's Museum, built in 1842 and burnt down in 1865, was 
where now stands the National Park Bank at Broadway and Ann Streets. The 
Loew Bridge was erected across Broadway at Fulton Street in 1867 to aid 
pedestrians, but was taken down the next year by court order. Stewart's Cafe 
at 161 Fulton Street contains a number of rare prints of old New York, 

57 



Route 6 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



ROUTE 6. 

SECTION IT.— ST. PAUL'S TO WALL STREET. 

i8. St. Paul's Chapel, corner of Vesey Street, the oldest church 
structure in Manhattan, built by McBean, 1764-66 (the steeple not 
until 1794). The interior was modeled after that of St. Martins-in- 
the-Fields, London. Note on the pediment the statue of St, Paul. 

See within the church the pews of Washington and Governor 
George Clinton, the original sounding board over the pulpit and 
several tablets. In the Trinity Corporation Building at the foot of 
the yard may be seen a number of interesting historical relics and 
pictures. 



A. 
B. 
C 
D. 
E. 
R 







® 




m a 


® 




ST. PAUL'S. 

El \L 


• •® •• 







Plate XII. C. K. 

Index to Monuments, St. Paul's Churchyard 
General Richard Montgomery. 
Dr. Wm. James McNeven (cenotaph). 
Cooke, the actor. 

Sieur de Roche Fontaine (aide to Rochambeau). 
Francis Dring (earliest inscription, 1767). 

Thomas Addis Emmett (see west face of cenotaph, latitude 
and longitude of New York). 



H. Washington's pew. 

I. Governor George Clinton's pew. 

5« 



King's College MANHATTAN 6 Route 

19. Astor House, north of St. Paul's, one of the oldest New 
York hotels, built 1834-38 and the temporary home of many famous 
men. The building stands on the site of the old Spring Garden and 
Drover's Inn or Bull's Head Tavern and was once the property of 
J. J. Astor, J. C. Coster and David Lydig. It is still in the Astor 
estate. 

The first substantial sidewalks of New York were laid on the 
west side of Broadway between Vesey and Murray Streets about 1787. 

Go west on Barclay Street to 

20. St. Peter's Church, southeast corner of Church Street, the 
oldest Roman Catholic Church building in Manhattan, established in 
1786; rebuilt 1838-9 and recently remodeled. Note the Latin inscrip- 
tion under the cornice and the statue of St. Peter. 

Go up Church and west on Murray Street to 

21. Tablet at the southeast corner of Murray Street and West 
Broadway, marking the site of King's College tract which extended 
west of Broadway, between Murray and Barclay Street and sloped 
down to the river which then came up to Greenwich Street. The 
college grounds proper covered much less territory (Plate IX). This 
large open space aided in stopping the progress of the great fire of 
1776. King's College was chartered in 1754, sessions beginning July 
of that year in the school-house of Trinity Church, Dr. Samuel 
Johnson, the President, being at first the sole instructor. The cor- 
ner stone of the building was laid in 1756 and the college was first 
occupied in 1760. During the Revolution the building was dismantled 
and used by both armies as barracks and a hospital. In 1784 it was 
reopened as Columbia College, DeWitt Clinton, nephew of the Gov- 
ernor, entering as the first student. 

Dr. Anthon's Grammar School, . founded in 1764 as the preparatory depart- 
ment, after the Revolution occupied the Murray Street side and the main 
entrance was from Robinson Street (Park Place) which was cut through the 
grounds in 1856, the year before the College moved up town. (Excursion V, 
Section 4:7). 

Greenwich Street was the shore line until about 1760 and a road ran north 
from it to Greenwich Village, passing Vauxhall, a favorite public garden of 
the English period, lying between Warren and Chambers Streets. The first 
elevated railroad in the world was built on this street in 1866-7, running from 
the Battery to Thirtieth Street. The experimental power was a cable. 

Go south on West Broadway to Vesey Street. 

West Broadway, College Place or CJiapel Street was widened and cut 
through to Vesey Street in 1892 and lower Church Street was widened and 
called Nezv Church about 1875. The line of the former sidewalk may be 
determined by the Elevated R. R. pillars on the west side. The horse cars 
formerly ran under the houses between Barclay and Vesey Streets. 

59 



Route 6 HISTORICAL GUIDE W. of Broadway 

22. Washington Market, successor to the Bear Market, corner 
of Vesey and Washington Streets. JVest Washington Market, formerly 
on the river front, is now part of Gansevoort Market. The high 
lands nearby were leveled and the shore line filled in about 1787 to 
1790. See old houses on Vesey Street opposite the market. 

Go south on Greenwich to Thames Street. 

On Cortlandt Street and Broadway was a Dutch windmill in early days, 
hence its old name of Windmill Lane; and at the foot of Cortlandt Street was 
the slip of Fulton's first steam ferry (1812) to Paulus Hook. 

See old buildings near Albany and Carlisle Streets. 

Go east on Thames Street and north on Trinity Place to Cedar 

Street, passing 

old house at 17 Thames Street and 

23. An old city well on Trinity Place, corner of Thames Street. 

24. Old Tom's Chop House, 118 Cedar Street, successor to the 
original Old Tom's of Thames and Temple Streets, established about 
1790. The old pewter, steins and china are still in use and English 
customs are observed. 

Return to Thames Street and go east to Broadway, passing 

25. Tablet, Thames Street side of 113 Broadway, site of the 
de Lancey House, built in 1700, later the Province Arms, or Burns' 
Coffee House, and replaced by the City Hotel in 1806. This is said to 
have been the scene of the signing of the Non-Importation Agree- 
ment, October 31, 1765, but there is authority for believing that this 
took place at 9 Broadway. (Excursion VII :i). 

Thames Street was the carriage way to the de Lancey stables. 



60 



MANHATTAN 7 Route 

ROUTE 7. 

SECTION III— WALL STREET TO FRANKLIN SQUARE. 

Take Subway to Wall Street. Go cast on Cedar Street, passing 

26. The site of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, built about 1760, nearly 
opposite the Clearing House, between Broadway and Nassau Streets. The 
latter street was first at Teunis de Kay's cartway from Wall Street, passing 
around Federal Hall; it was opened in 1696, and the upper end was called 
Kip Street for Jacob Kip. Note copies of the City, State and National Seals 
on the Clearing House. 

27. The tablet on the Mutual Life Building, northeast corner 
of Nassau and Cedar Streets, marks the site of the Middle Dutch 
Church, built 1727-32; this was used by the British as a riding acad- 
emy and prison and served as a post office from 1845 to 1875. The 
old bell, made in Amsterdam and given by de Peyster, is now at the 
Collegiate Church, at Fifth Avenue and Forty-eighth Street. (Ex- 
cursion V, Section IV :5). It is said that Franklin tried some of his 
kite experiments from the belfry of the old building. Just behind, 
at 34 Liberty Street, stood the Livingston Sugar House, another 
Revolutionary prison. 

28. Site of the French Church du St. Esprit (Excursion VII, 13 and Ex- 
cursion W, Section 11:39), erected 1703-4 at 18-20-22 Pine Street and also 
used as a military prison. 

Go north on Nassau and west on Liberty Street 

29. The Chamber of Commerce, 65 Liberty Street (admission 
only through a member's card), contains a fine collection of portraits 
of old New York merchants, a Stuart portrait of Washington and 
many interesting relics and curios. Note in front the statues of 
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and De Witt Clinton. On this site 
once stood the Friends' Meeting House. 

Go up Liberty Place, formerly called Little Green Street, to Nassau 
Street, then descend the hill to Maiden Lane and walk east 
to Pearl Street. 
Aaron Burr's law office was at 73 Nassau Street. 

Maiden Lane, Maagde Paatje, was one of the three oldest streets north 
of the Wall, being the route between Road to the Ferry and Broadway. The 
streets between it and Broadway were laid out about 1690. A brook ran 
along the line of this street from the vicinity of Broadway, as may still be 
seen by the hollow marking the neighborhood and by the old arches in base- 
ments near Nassau Street, built over a drain to carry off the water. Some 
say_ the banks of this brook were a favorite bleaching ground of the Dutch 
maidens, others that Maiden Lane was an old lover's path. At the edge of 
the East River, near Pearl Street, in Dutch days was the smithy of Cornelius 
Cloppers, giving the name Smit's Vly (valley) to this locality. Note the modern 
house with a crowstep roof at 57 Maiden Lane, on the site of Thomas Jef- 
ferson's New York home. 

61 



Route 7 HISTORICAL GUIDE East of 

30. The Fly Market once occupied the block east of Pearl Street, and after 
the filling-in process was complete two other markets occupied the additional 
blocks to the east. All were torn down about 1821. Its successor is the 
modern Fulton Market. 

Go down Pearl Street 

Pearl Street, de Perel Straat, the Strand or the Road to the Ferry (some* 
times called Dock and Queen Street) marks the former shore line on the East 
River and was the road from the Fort to the Brooklyn Ferry, near Fulton 
Street. 

31. Revolutionary cannon, northeast corner of Pearl and Pine 
Streets. Aaron Burr once lived at 10 Cedar Street. The old De 
Peyster house, at 168 Pearl Street, was the residence of Governor 
George Clinton in 1789. 

Return to Liberty and north on Gold Street, climbing old Rutgers 

Hill and passing some quaint old buildings. Go east on 

Piatt Street to see an old house at 208 Pearl Street. 

Return on Piatt Street to WiUiaui Street, passing 

2>2.' The Jack-Knife, northwest corner of Piatt and Gold 

Streets, an old house once used as a tavern which was so changed 

in shape by the cutting through of Piatt Street (by Jacob S. Piatt in 

1834) as to merit its name. It is best seen from near the William 

Street corner. 

Go up William Street to 

2Z. Golden Hill Inn, 122-4 William Street, built over 150 years 

ago of brick from Holland. It was the favorite meeting place of the 

Sons of Liberty (see 38). Washington Irving lived at the site of 

126 (or 131) William Street, and Lafayette at 90 William Street. 

Go west on John Street to 

34. John Street M. E. Church, the oldest Methodist Church 
in New York. The original building occupied the same site and was 
erected in 1768; rebuilt in 1817 and 1841. The church was organized 
in a sail loft at 120 William Street by Barbara Heck, Philip Embury 
and Captain Webb. Within may be seen a number of interesting 
relics, including a clock given by Charles Wesley and tablets to 
Captain Webb, S. H. Hadley and others. The tablet outside gives 
the dates of the several structures. 

35. The site of the John Street Theatre (called the " Royal " in the 
Revolution and the '' National " afterward) was at 15-21 John Street. 
It was built between 1750 and 1760 and here Major Andre performed 
original plays during the Revolution. " Hail Columbia " was first 
played here in the presence of Washington by Fyles, its composer, 
and in this theatre Joseph Jefferson made his first appearance. See 
the arcade at 17 John Street, once an entrance to the theatre. 

62 



Broadway MANHATTAN 7 Route 

Go north on Nassau to Fulton Street; then west to 

S6. Tablet, 136 Fulton Street, erected in 1883 by veterans of 
the Seventh Regiment to commemorate the Shakespeare Tavern, built 
before the Revolution, a favorite headquarters for actors and the 
scene of the organization of the Seventh Regiment, August 25, 1824. 

Go east on Fulton Street. 

37. Fulton Street Prayer Meeting (No. 113) site of the 

North Dutch Church, built in 1769 and used as a British prison. The 

bell once hanging in the North Church tower now stands in the 

churchyard at Twenty-ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. (Excursion V., 

Section 2: 41). 

The first Firemen's Hall, built in 1788, was east of the church, at the cor- 
ner of William Street. 

Go Up William to Ann Street. 

38. Tablet, northeast corner of Ann and William Streets, 
marks the site of the street fight of Golden Hill (so called from a 
wheat field here) between the Sons of Liberty and British soldiers, 
in defence of the Liberty Pole, January 17, 1770, — the first bloodshed 
of the Revolution (see 3 and 2>Z) • Note the old building opposite 
and the court and old style rear buildings at 59 Ann Street. 

Return to Fulton Street and go east. 

39. Ryder's Alley, connecting Fulton and Gold Streets, is a 
relic of the old days. The old United States Hotel ("Holt's Folly"), 
corner of Fulton and Pearl Streets, on the site of the United States 
Arcade, has been recently demolished. Several old houses may be seen 
near the ferry, at the foot of Fulton Street. 

Go north on Cliff Street to 

40. The St. George Building on the northwest corner of Beek- 
man Street, on the site of the first St. George's Church (1748-1852), 
now on East Sixteenth Street. The original desk, pulpit and chancel 
rails are now in the church at Manhasset, L. L 

The old shot tower, erected 1858, was taken down in 1907. 

41. Tablet at Cliff and Ferry Streets, (Schieren Building) 
erected Oct. 27, 1906, under the auspices of the Hide and Leather 
Association of New York to commemorate the old Swamp. In ex- 
cavating for the building old tan-vats were found in a good state of 
preservation. 



Route 7 HISTORICAL GUIDE East of 

John Haberding (or Harpendinck) with some fellow tanners 
bought in 1695, " The Shoemaker's Pasture," a district covering 
several blocks between Maiden Lane and Ann Street, east of Broad- 
way. Here they carried their tanneries from the old tan pits near 
Beaver Street ; later Haberding, having given his share of the Pasture 
to the Middle Church, they removed to the " Leather Swamp " above 
Beekman Street, near Gold Street, which district still retains the name 
of " The Swamp." The Vanderclifif Farm lay northeast of Shoe- 
maker's Pasture and gave the name to Clifif Street. 

Go cast on Ferry Street to Peck Slip. 

42. Tablet at 8-10 Peck Slip, erected by General Society of 
Mayflower Descendants in 1904 to commemorate the warehouse of 
Isaac Allerton, a Mayflower Pilgrim who was Governor Bradford's 
assistant at Plymouth. 

43. Revolutionary cannon at southwest corner of Water Street 
and Peck Slip. 

Go north on Pearl Street to 

44. Site of the Walton House, 324-326 Pearl Street (built 1754, torn down 
1881), the magnificence of which is said to have led to the enactment of the 
Stamp Act. 

45. Tablet, on Brooklyn Bridge pier at the east side of Frank- 
lin Square, erected in 1899 by the Mary Washington Colonial Chap- 
ter, Daughters of the American Revolution, to mark the Franklin 
House, home of Walter Franklin, a merchant, at i Cherry Street, 
built 1770, and occupied as the first presidential mansion by Wash- 
ington. Another prominent resident was Samuel Osgood, first Post- 
master General, who had married Franklin's widow. The house was 
torn down in 1856. 

Franklin Square was named in 1817 by the Board of Aldermen for 
Benjamin Franklin. 

This district was formerly called Cherry Hill, named for the cherry orchard 
of Mayor Thos. Delanccy, 1666-71, or for the Cherry Garden, established^ about 
1664 by Richard Sackett as a rival to the Dutch garden at Chatham Square. 
At 5 Cherry Street John Hancock once lived, and here Wm. Tweed carried on 
the trade of a cigar-maker. 

At 7 Cherry Stree^ stood the house of Samuel Leggett, president of the 

'in the 



New York Gaslight Company, where gas was first used in the city in 1835. 
At 17 Cherry .Street liveu Samuel C. Reid,- who designed the present American 
" • " - ^. • d f ^' 

i m 

64 



flag. Gotham Court (19 Cherry) and Blindman's Alley (26 Cherry) were in 
this neighborhood, which is one of the most crowded and poorly housed districts 
in the city. 



Broadway MANHATTAN 7 Route 

Go up Cherry 10 Koosevelt Street. 

Through Roosevelt Street once ran Old Wreck Brook, thought by 
Innes to have been named for the wreck of Adrian Block's ship, the 
Tiger. (Excursion VII :i6.) This brook led from the Collect Pond 
(vicinity of the Tombs) and helped drain Beekman's Swamp. The 
bridge crossing this brook at Park Row was one of three " Kissing 
Bridges." See old houses at 98-96 and 88-86 Roosevelt Street. 

Pass under the Elevated Railroad to New Chambers Street and south 
on Rose Street. 

46. Tablet and barred window on the Rhinelander Building, 
the latter once in the old Cuyler, later Rhinelander Sugar House 
which was built in 1763 and torn down 1892. Some of the original 
blocks of stone surround the doorway. It is claimed that the old 
building was used as a Revolutionary prison. 

Go west on Duane Street to Park Row and hack to City Hall. 

Chtitham Garden once fronted on Park Row (old Chatham Street) and ex- 
tended north from New Chambers Street. The high ground in the vicinity 
was once called Catimut's Windmill or Fresh Water Hill. There was a wind- 
mill here in 1662, north of Duane Street. 



^S 



NOTES 



66 



NOTES 



6f 



NOTES 



6S 



EXCURSION NO. II.— GREENWICH VILLAGE AND LISPEN- 
, ARD'S MEADOWS. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley. 

(Corrected with the aid of Thos. J. Burton) 



Copyright, 1902, by the City History Club of New York. 
Revised 1906 and 1909. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




^7/ PL.>M\J 

OFPART OFTHE 

ITYOF NEW YOR.K 



B^ JohnMontredor E^^r 177^* 



Plate Xlll, Redrawn from Old JMap. 

70 



C. K. 



Greenwich MANHATTAN 8 Route 



GREENWICH VILLAGE AND LISPENARD'S MEADOWS. 
Bibliography. 

Works by Ulmann, Hemstreet and Wilson mentioned in Excursion 
VII. 

" Historic New York," (papers on " Annetje Jans' Farm," " Old 
Wells," and " Old Greenwich.") 

" In Old New York," (chapters on " Greenwich Village," and 
" Lispenard's Meadows") by Janvier. 

" When Old New York was Young," (chapters on " Greenwich 
Village," ''The Inland Road to Greenwich," and "The Mouse Trap,") 
by Hemstreet. 

ROUTE 8. 

SECTION I.— GREENWICH VILLAGE. 

West Fourteenth Street to Spring Street. 
(Figures refer to Plates XIV, XVI; see also Plate XIII). 

Greenwich Village is the site of the oldest settlement of white men on Man- 
hattan after that formed around Fort Amsterdam. Its boundaries are, roughly, 
the North River, West Fourteenth Street and the line of the old Minetta 
Brook, the east branch of which rose in Madison Square, crossed Washington 
Square, ran through the line of Minetta and Downing Streets, and flowed into 
the North River just north of Charlton Street (see Plate XXI). 

The original Greenwich was of much smaller compass, consisting of a few 
houses located between the old Indian village of Sappokanican (east of the 
present Gansevoort Market) and the present Christopher Street, and was built 
up chiefly around the foot of the latter street. 

Sappokanican was called the Bossen Bouwerie (Farm in the Woods) in 
1633, when Governor Van Twiller established a tobacco plantation often called 
by its old Indian name. It is mentioned in the Journal of Bankers and 
Sluyter in 1679. Because of its healthfulness and fertility, it was a popular 
place of settlement. It received the name of Greenwich in the early part of 



the eighteenth century. Among the early residents of prominence were Cap- 
tain, later Admiral, Sir Peter Warren, Oliver De Lancey (Warren's brother- 
in-law). Commissary Mortier, William Bayard, James Jauncey and George 



Clinton. 

During the early part of the nineteenth century this section of the city 
became a refuge from the plagues of yellow fever and cholera, and was rapidly 
built up. 

The dovetailing of the new city plan of 1807-11 on the old line of streets 
in Greenwich Village gave rise to some curious complications, such as the 
crossing of Tenth and Eleventh Streets by Fourth Street, etc. This new plan, 
together with changes about Washington Square, brought Greenwich into closer 
union with the rest of the city, although its individuality is still very marked. 
It is often called the Old Ninth or the American Ward. 

The original shore line of this section was just west of Greenwich Street, 
which was a shore road to Greenwich Village, possibly succeeding an old 
Indian path, 

71 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




72 



Greenwich MANHATTAN 8 Route 

Start at West Fourteenth Street and Tenth Avenue; walk south. 

1. Gansevoort Market, just west of the site of Sappokanican 
("carrying place"), the Indian village where Hudson is supposed 
to have stopped to trade in 1609. 

The market occupies filled-in ground, the original shore-line making a sharp 
turn to the east at Bank Street, forming a bay into which projected a point 
of land on which Fort Gansevoort was located. The fort, which was named in 
honor of General Peter Gansevoort, an officer in Washington's army, was built 
in this vicinity to protect the river front during the War of 1812 and was 
torn down in 1851. 

See the Sign of the Goose facing Gansevoort (" goose ") Mar- 
ket at 819 Washington Street. 

West Washington Market was moved here from Vesey Street. 

2. The old Oyster Market lies just west along the river front, 
which is usually lined at this point with antiquated river craft. 

Go up Horatio Street to Jackson Square. 

Pass old houses at 35, 19-13 and 7 Horatio Street and 345 West 
Fourth Street. 

3. 126 Greenwich Avenue, opposite Jackson Square; see C. H. 
Britting's large and unique collection of theatre posters, pro- 
grams, etc., dating back to 1805. 

Go down Eighth Avenue to Abingdon Square. 

82 Jane Street is the site of William Bayard's house in which Alexander 
Hamilton died. 

Abingdon Square was named for the Countess of. Abingdon, Admiral War- 
ren's daughter. 

5. The Warren Estate embraced much of the land in this vicinity. The site 
of the Warren House (home of Admiral Sir Peter Warren, who aided in the 
capture of Louisbourg in 1745) was on the block bounded by West Fourth, 
Charles, Bleecker and Perry Streets. This property was purchased by Mr. Van 
Nest in 1819 for $15,000. In 1865 a row of brownstone houses was built here and 
remains on what is called Vannest Place (Charles from Bleecker to West 
Fourth Street). 

Christopher Street was called Skinner Road for one of Sir Peter Warren's 
sons-in-law. 

100 yards east of Eighth Avenue was the original Fitaroy Road, named for 
another son-in-law. Lord Fitzroy, created Baron Southampton in 1780. Ganse- 
voort Street was once called Southampton or Great Kill Road. (Plate XXI and 
Route 16.) 

4. The Barracks, a building at the southeast corner of Bank 
and Bleecker Streets, the upper part being the original prison for 
sailors taken from the captured British man-of-war Peacock during 
the War of 1812 (for brief account see framed clippings in the 
building). 

Go west on Bank to West Street. 

Bank Street was so called from the banks which removed from downtown 
and located here during the yellow fever epidemic of 1709. Governor George 
Clinton lived at the site of no Bank Street, the grounds then sloping to the 
river. 

73 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 







Plate XIV. Routes 8, lo. 



C. K. 



74 



Greenwich MANHATTAN 8 Route 

6. Tablet on west side of West Street in front of Piers 49-50, 
marking the widening and general improvement of West Street 
in 1897. 

Go down West to Tenth Street. 

7. Site of the Urst New York State Prison (near foot of West Tenth Street), 
built in 1796; removed to Sing Sing 1829; the foundation stones are incor- 
porated in the walls of the brewery now occupying the site (just inside and 
east of the Tenth Street driveway). In 181 1 Greeinvich Hotel was on Green- 
wich Street near the prison; stages went from this point to the City Hall on 
Wall Street five times a day. 

Log rafts were formerly anchored off shore, and a market was lo- 
cated here in 1804. On November 4, 1825, the procession of vessels 
brought through the Erie Canal stopped at the dock near the Prison 
where it was met by the city officials and proceeded to the navy yard, 
where national officials were taken on board and the fleet continued 
to the Lower Bay, where was performed the ceremony of wedding the 
lakes to the sea. 

8. Old houses on Weehawken Street, possibly built before 1767 
and plotted on the Ratzer Map of 1766-7 (Plate XVIL) One of 
the houses was once the station of the N. Y. C. and H. R. R, R. 

Go east on West Tenth Street, passing 

Old houses at 248 (rear alley) and 246 West Tenth Street. 

Go back to Hudson Street and south to Grove Street. 

9. St. Luke's (a chapel of Trinity) was built here 1821-4 (see 
tablet); the building next door to the old chapel was a Home 
for Aged Couples, now at West One Hundred and Twelfth 
Street. 

10. The old Grove Street School (P. S. No. 3) is the third 
oldest public school in New York. It was destroyed b}^ fire in 
1905. The new building is marked by a tablet (the gift of C. R. 
Lamb, one of the old "boys") to commemorate Lafayette's visit 
in 1824 to the original school, which had been " selected as the best 
example of the public school system as established by the Free 
School Society of the City of New York," Grove street (called 
successively Cosine, Columbia and Burrows Street) was widened and 
partly straightened in 1836. 

Go east on Barrozv and through Commerce Streets to Bedford Street. 

11. The Broderick House is at the southwest corner of Bar- 
row and Commerce Streets. 

Washington Irving's sister lived at 15 Commerce Street. 
Go down Bedford to Morton Street. 
75 



Route 8 HISTORICAL GUIDE Greenwich 

12. The old Bedford Street Methodist Church, corner of Mor- 
ton Street, was founded in a carpenter's shop near by in 1805; the 
original church was built in 1810 and rebuilt on the same site in 
1840. Bishop Asbury and Freeborn Garretson preached in this 
church. Note several old buildings near by on Bedford and 
Morton Streets. 

Go west on Morton to Washington Street. 

13. 95 Morton Street is the former country house of General 
Morton, opposite which was " Mr. Williamson's garden " mentioned 
in Washington's diary. See other old houses in the vicinity. 

Go back to Hudson Street and south to 

14. Hudson Park, occupying the site of St. John's Cemetery, 
which was converted into a park (formerly called St. John's) in 
1898. See the Firemen's Monument and tablets; the pool and 
fountain are in the French-Italian style of the 17th Century. 

Cross the Park to Carmine Street. 

It is a neighborhood tradition that during the Draft Riots negroes were 
hanged from the lamp-post on Clarkson, near Carmine Street. 

15. See old-time houses at 54, 59 and 61 Downing Street. 

Return to Varick Street and go south. 

Many old-fashioned houses remain on Varick Street, between 
Charlton and Carmine Streets, on Charlton, Van Dam and Spring 
Streets, and on Hudson at Watts Street. 

The Zandtberg or Richmond Hill originally occupied this region (see Plate 
XIII). The Indians called this Ishpatanau or Bad Hill. 

16. The site of Richmond Hill Mansion is on the block bounded by King, 
Varick, Charlton and McDougal Streets, but the house was finally removed to 
34-38 Charlton Street. It was built by Abraham Mortier, Commissary of the 
British Army in 1760 and occupied by Lord Amherst, Sir William Carleton, 
General Washington (1776), Vice-President Adams (1789) and Aaron Burr; 
later it was used as a theatre and then became a roadhouse. 

17. The spring Street Church, at Spring and Varick Streets, 
was erected in 1835, its predecessor of 1811 having been built of 
material from the old First Church in Wall Street (Excursion 
VII :2o). Spring Street (formerly Brannon Street) was so called 
from the natural well which was the scene of an early tragedy. 

18. In 1755 Brannon Garden occupied the corner at Spring and Hudson 
Streets, the neighborhood being known as Lower Greenwich. 

Go east on Spring Street and return by Sixth Avenue Elevated R. R. 
from Grand Street, or continue on Excursion, following Route 9. 

76 



Lispenards's 



MANHATTAN 



Meadows 




(Redrawn) C. K. 

Plate XV. Jans or Bogardus Farm ; Later the Church Farm 
From " In Old New York." By permission. Copyriglit, 1894, by 
Harper & Bros. 

ROUTE 9. 

SECTION II. LISPENARD'S MEADOWS. 

Broadway and Canal Street to the North River. 

(Figures refer to Plate XVI; see also XV). 

The Annetje Jans Farm, granted in 1635 to Roelof Janssen, consisted of 62 
acres lying between the present Warren and Canal Streets, west of Broadway. 
Roelof 's widow, Annetje, married Dominie Bogardvis, whence the later name 
— the Bogardus Farm or the Dominie's Bouwerie. It was sold to Governor 
Lovelace in 1670, confiscated by the Duke of York in 1674, and called . suc- 
cessively the Duke's Farm, the King's Farm and the Queen's Farm, until, in 
1705, Queen Anne granted it in perpetuity to Trinity Church, when it was 
called the Church Farm. Most of it is still 'Trinity property except the portions 
ceded by the corporation to the city for streets and St. John's Park. Trinity 
received other grants north to Christopher Street, including the Old Jans Farm 
of Tans Celes, north of Canal Street. Just beyond .was the Zandtberg (or sand 
hills) known in English days as Richmond Hill. (16 above.) 

77 



Route 9 HISTORICAL GUIDE Lispenard's 

The Kalch Hoek was a promontory projecting into a swampy region just 
east and northeast of the Farm, which was finally drained in 1730 by Anthony 
Rutgers. His daughter married Leonard Lispenard, whence the names Lis- 
penard's (Lepner's) Meadows, Lispenard and Leonard Streets. 

The Rutgers Mansion was at Thomas Street and Broadway, and about the 
middle of tiie i8th Century became the center of Ranclagit Garden. The New 
York Hospital, completed 1775, occupied about the same site. 

A canal, constructed through these meadows, on the lirie of Canal Street, 
after the City Plan of 1807 was adopted, drained the Collect Pond, which was 
at Centre Street (see Route 12). A sewer, now carries the drainage of the 
original springs in the middle of the island. A stone bridge crossed the canal 
at Broadway. 

The small park at West and Canal Streets was once called Suicide Slip. 

Go east on Canal Street to West Broadzvay and north to 

19. St. Alphonsus' Church, near Grand Street, 312 West Broad- 
way (formerly Laurens Street), on the site of the Lafayette Amphi- 
theatre, built in 1826 and named in honor of Lafayette after his sec- 
ond visit to America. In the Amphitheatre was held the celebration 
ball of the Erie Canal opening. 

Continue west on Canal to Laight Street, thence west on Laight to 

Varick Street. 
See old houses on the triangular block bounded by Canal, 
Laight and Varick Streets. 

20. St. John's Chapel, 46 Varick Street, built in 1803-7, called 
St. John's in the Fields was once the center of a fashionable neigh- 
borhood. St. John's is the third oldest church edifice yet standing on 
Manhattan, being antedated by St. Paul's Chapel (1764-6) and St. 
Mark's Church (1795-9). The key of the chapel may be obtained from 
the sexton at the house on the south. The galleries, columns and 
pulpit are original. The bell, clock and iron fence were brought 
from London. On Saturday morning may be seen the Leake Dole of 
Bread, established in 1800. 

It faces the site of St. John's Park, laid out as a private park in 1821, but 
sold to the N. Y. and Hudson River R. R. Co., for a freight station in 1865. 
Around the Park lived a number of well-known citizens, including Alexander 
Hamilton and General Schuyler. 

See quaint old St. John's Lane and York Street behind the 
church. 

Go down Varick and west on Beach Street. 

21. The small triangular Park at Beach Street and West 
Broadway is a reminder of the Annetje Jans Farm. 

22. Home of John Ericsson, 36 Beach Street. On the roof 
may be seen a small house in which he carried out experiments. 

Go up Hudson Street, passing 
several old houses with high stoops, iron railings and newel posts. 

78 



Meadows 



MANHATTAN 



9 Route 



23. Commemorative pediment in the Hudson Street front of 
the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. freight station, to honor the railway 
achievements of Vanderbilt. 

Go west on Hubert to West Street. 

24. The North Fort, erected during the War of 181 2, was located at the foot 
of Hubert Street. « 

The site of Washington's landing in 1775 was on West Street, south of 
Laight Street, formerly marked by a bronze tablet. 




•.UHSION . 
SECTIONS' 



Plate XVL Routes 8, 9. 



C. K. 



79 



HISTORICAL GUIDE Washington 

ROUTE 10. 

SECTION III— WASHINGTON SQUARE AND VICINITY. 
(Figures refer to Plate XIV). 

Take Fifth Avenue bus to Washington Square; or Eighth Street car 

west from Astor Place Subway Station to Fifth Avenue 

and walk south to 

25. Washington Square (9 acres); the Potter's Field, 1789- 
1823; made a park in 1827 and improved 1870-1. Art Street (Astor 
Place) and Monument Lane (named for an obelisk to the memory 
of General Wolfe, hero of Quebec, 1759, erected at a point near 
Fifteenth Street and Eighth Avenue), now Greenwich Avenue, met 
just north of Washington Square. These streets are the only remain- 
ing parts of the Inland Road to Greenwich, connecting with the Bow- 
ery. The Greenwich Avenue portion was the line of retreat of Sulli- 
van's Brigade and Knox's Artillery, September 15, 1776, Aaron Burr 
being their guide (Route 19, Battle of Harlem Heights.) Note on 
map difference in the method of laying out and designating the 
streets north, south and west of Washington Square (see introduc- 
tion to Route 8). 

The Washington Memorial Arch replaced a temporary arch 
built in 1889 at the time of the centennial of Washington's inau- 
guration. The present arch, designed by Stanford White, was erected 
1890-5 by popular subscription at a cost of $128,000. 

The heroic Statue of Garibaldi, by Giovanni Turini, was pre- 
sented in 1888 by Italian residents in New York.* The colossal 
bust of Alexander L. Holley, inventor of Bessemer steel, by J. Q. 
A. Ward, was erected in 1890 at the expense of Engineers of 
Europe and America. 

The New York University Building, facing the Square at the 
east, stands on the site of the original Gothic structure built 
1832-5 and torn down 1894-5 to make way for the present building 
which is used by the Schools of Law, Pedagogy, Commerce, etc. 
In the old building Morse painted and experimented with his tele- 
graphic apparatus. Draper wrote and perfected his invention of 
the daguerreotype and Colt invented the revolver named for him. 
Go down West Broadway to West Third Street. 

See old buildings at 60-58 West Third Street and the sign of 
" The Black Cat " (formerly designating a popular French res- 
taurant) at 351 West Broadway. 

80 



Square MANHATTAN lo Route 

Go west on West Third Street. 

West Third Street, originally Amity Street, was an old-time 
fashionable thoroughfare, among the residents on which were 
Governor Lucius Robinson and Judge Grosbeck. See several old 
residences with ornamental doorways, iron railings and newel posts, 
now Italian and negro tenements. 

26. St. Clement's Church, 108 West Third Street, contains an 
organ built for St. John's Chapel in 1814. It was captured by the 
British and ransomed for $2,000. In 1851 it was rebuilt and placed 
here. The only vault in St. Clement's is that in which are the 
remains of John Pintard, the founder of the New York Historical 
Society, and those of all his kinsmen removed by him from the 
old French graveyard on Pine Street. 

Go down McDougal Street one block, east on Minetta Lane and down 
Minetta Street. 

27. Through Minetta Street once ran Minetta Water, or Brook, 
called by the Dutch Bestavaar's Killetje, " Grandfather's little creek " 
(see Plate XXI, Route 14). Note the curious old houses and angles 
here and on Minetta Place. 

Go west on Bleecker to Christopher Street. 

Bleecker Street was originally called Herring Street for the old 
farm of the Herring family. Pass several rows of old dwellings on 
Bleecker and Carmine Streets. 

28. Home of Tom Paine, at 309 (some say 293) Bleecker Street, 
where he lived with Mme. Bonneville. He died at the site of 59 
Grove Street. Barrow Street was called Reason Street (later 
Raisin Street) for Paine's " Age of Reason " by the Commission- 
ers who designed the City Plan of 1807. 

29. The Commissioner's OMce was at the northeast corner of 
Christopher and Bleecker Streets. The original building, slightly al- 
tered, still remains. 

Go east on Christopher Street to West Fourth Street. 

30. St. John's Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher Street, was 
built in 1821 as the Eighth Presbyterian Church. 

The site of the Spencer Mansion is at the east side of West Fourth, near West 
Tenth Street; it was used in 1822 as a city post office during the yellow fever 
period. 

81 



Route 10 HISTORICAL GUIDE Jefferson Market 

Go east on West Fourth Street to Sheridan Square. 

West Fourth Street was called Asylum Street, as the New York Orphan 
Asylum was established here. 

31. Old house, 135 West Washington Place, facing on Sheri- 
dan Square. 

Return and continue east on Christopher Street. 

32. Christopher Street Square; the meeting point of eight 
streets, in the center of what Hemstreet calls "The Mouse Trap." 
See at the end of Square the Northern Dispensary instituted in 
1827, present building erected in 1831; note the tablet. 

Return and continue east on Christopher Street. 

33. The houses at 11 Christopher Street, opposite Gay Street, 
were occupied a century ago by Scotch weavers. The gardens 
extended down to Greenwich Avenue. 

34. Jefferson Market {New Greenwich Market) : market, court, 
prison, the site originally a pond. The building is the home of 
the Exempt Firemen's Organization (entrance at No. 10 on the 
Greenwich Avenue side), in whose rooms may be seen an in- 
teresting exhibit of old fire apparatus, pictures, etc. (visitors wel- 
come.) 

See the old houses at 129-131 West loth Street, covered with 
wistaria vines. 



82 



NOTES 



83 



NOTES 



84 



EXCURSION NO. III.— THE BOWERY AND EAST SIDE. 
By Frank Bergen Kelley. 



Copyright, 1905, by the City History Club of New York. 
(Revised 1909.) 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XVII, Redrawn from the Ratzer Map, 



86 



THE BOWERY AND EAST SIDE 
Bibliography. 

Works by Ulmann, Hemstreet, R. R. Wilson, Innes and Janvier 
mentioned in Excursion VII. 

"When Old New York was Young'* (chapters on "The Story of 
Chatham Square," " Old Time Theatres," " Bouwerie Village," and 
"Around the Collect Pond") by Hemstreet. 

"Historic New York" (papers on "The 14 Miles Round," "The 
Bowery," and "Old Wells and Water Courses"). 

" Charlotte Temple," by Mrs. Rowson ; with an historical and bio- 
graphical introduction by Francis W. Halsey. 

" The Evolution of Stuyvesant Village," by A. A. Rikeman (pub- 
lished by G. C. Peck). 

" Annals of New York Methodism," by Seaman. 

"Memoirs of St. Mark's Church" (published by the Vestry). 

The East Side is to-day chiefly interesting for the great field it 
offers to the sociologist and the philanthropist. Attempts are now 
being made to solve many difficult problems in the city administra- 
tion such as the public provision of parks, baths, playgrounds and 
recreation piers. The diversified characteristics of the people, many 
of whom talk, dress and live after the manners of the Fatherland, 
make the East Side particularly attractive to the casual visitor. 

N. B. " Social Settlements," by Henderson and " The Better New 
York," by Tolman and Hemstreet, are recommended as special works 
of reference. 



87 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE II. 
SECTION I— BOWERY VILLAGE. 
Between Second and Sixteenth Streets. 
(Figures refer to Plate XIX; see also XVII, XVIII). 

Peter Stuy\-esant purchased from the West India Companv the Great Bouwerie 
(farm) for a country seat, and here he came to live after the surrender of 
New Amsterdam. Bouuerie Lane connected his farm with the City and with 
Harlem, and formed part of the Old Post Road. 

The oldest settled portion of this part of Manhattan was in the vicinity of 
Stuyvesant's Bouery House, around which a little ham'*^* grew up. The old 
street plan of Bowerie \'illage may be seen in Plate X\'IH. but the original 
streets and names have all disappeared, with the exception of the Bowerv and 
StuyA-esant Street. In 1807 was inaugurated the new City Plan of numbered 
streets and avenues arranged at right angles to each other, but there could be 
no regularity until Thirteenth Street was reached, above which the " checker- 
board plan " has prevailed. 

Since the early days the shore line has been extended, largely by the redemp- 
tion of great salt meadows, including Tompkins Square. 

Manhattan Island (to be distinguished from the Island of Manhattan) was 
a height covering the blocks between Houston, Lewis and Third Streets and the 
East River. This was formerly surrounded by swamps and became an island 
at high tide. The region was once known as Dry Dock J'illage. 

The Third Street Recreation Pier was built here in 1897 to provide fresh air 
and good music for the crowded neighborhood. 

From Aster Place Subway Station or the Xinth Street Station of the 

Third Avenue elcz'atcd R. R. go east on Stuyzesant Street. 

1. Former home of Nicholas Stuyvesant, 21 Stuj^esant Street, 
where Hamilton Fish was born. See old-fashioned houses on 
south side of the street. 

2. St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery, Second Avenue and Eleventh 
Street, the second oldest church edince (on the oldest church 
site still occupied by a church) in Manhattan, erected 1/95-99 on 
the site of the early chapel built by Peter Stu\"\-esant. Judith 
Stuyvesant left the chapel to the Dutch Reformed Church on 
condition that the family vault be preserved. Peter, the great- 
grandson of Governor Stuyvesant, gave the land, chapel and $2,- 
000, to which Trinity added $12,500, and the present church was 
built, the steeple being added in 1829 and the porch in 1858. 

Stuyvesant's Tomb is beneath the tablet erected to his memory 
under the southeast end of the church. In the same vault are the 
remains of Governor Sloughter (died 1691). and across the walk, 
in the Minthorne vault. Governor D. T. Tompkins is buried. 

In the churchyard may also be seen the graves of A. T. Stewart 
(whose body was stolen about 1878), Mayor Philip Hone, Dr. 
Harris, first rector of the church and ex-president of Columbia, 
and Thos. Addis Emmett (in Chancellor Jones' vault). Within 

89 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XIX. Route ii. 



C. K. 



90 



Bowery Village MANHATTAN ii Route 

the church may be seen some of the original furniture (the com- 
munion cloth of 1799 and the communion plate of 1845) and a 
number of memorial tablets to prominent New Yorkers. See also 
Stuyvesant Memorial Windows, erected by the Daughters of Hol- 
land Dames. 

The old Bowery Village graveyard was in the block bounded by Eleventh and 
Twelfth Streets and First and Second Avenues. 

Stuyvesant's Bouwerie House was just northwest and is said to have been 
the place where the terms of surrender to the English were signed in 1664. 
The house was burned in the early part of the Revolution. PefcrsHeld, 
another home of the Stuyvesants, was on the East River shore between Fifteenth 
and Sixteenth Streets. Nicholas Wm. Stuyvesant's house was between First 
and Second Avenues, Eighth and Ninth Streets, with an approach from Sixth 
Street and Bowery Lane (see Plate XVIII). 

The former home of the New York Historical Society (now at Central Park 
West and Seventy-sixth Street) stands at 170 Second Avenue, facing the 
church. 

Go north on Second Avenue, passing 

3. An old Stuyvesant residence remodeled as an apartment 
house at 175 Second Avenue and, at 180 Second Avenue, a former 
home of President Buchanan. 

Go zvcst on Thirteenth Street to Third Avenue. 

4. Tablet (northeast corner Thirteenth Street and Third Av- 
enue) marks the site of Peter Stuyvesant's pear tree, brought 
about. 1647 or 1665 to his Bouwerie, where it bore fruit for over 
two centuries. A picture of the tree and a branch of it may be 
seen in the Governor's Room in City Hall. A cross-section is in 
the New York Historical Society building. 

Go tip Third Avenue. 

5. Second Mile Stone, Third Avenue, between Sixteenth and 
Seventeenth Streets, marks the distance from the present City 
Hall, originally placed near the site of Cooper Union, 

Go east on Sixteenth Street to 

6. Stuyvesant Square, part of the Stuyvesant estate, once a 
private park. 

St. George's Church, built 1845-8 (successor to St. George's 
Chapel, on Beekman Street), and the Friends' Meeting House 
and School (successor to the Meeting House on Pearl and Rose 
Streets), face it on the west. 

Take car south on Second Avenue to 

7. The Middle Dutch Church (Second Avenue and Seventh 
Street), successor to the Church of St. Nicholas in Fort Amsterdam 
and to the Middle Church at Nassau and Cedar Streets. See the 
tablet on the Second Avenue side. Within (entrance at 50 East 

91 



Route n HISTORICAL GUIDE Bowery Village 

Seventh Street) may be seen pictures of the old buildings and four 
memorial tablets in memory of (i) Peter Minuit, first Director- 
General and elder of the original church ; (2) Sebastian Jansen Krol 
and Jan Huyck, kranken besoekers (visitors of the sick) ; (3) Rev. 
Jonas Michaelius, the first minister and (4) J. C. Lamphier, founder 
of the Fulton Street prayer meeting. 

See also tablet to .victims of the Slocum disaster, 1904, and the 
coat of arms of John Harpendinck (Excursion 1:41). 

A monument in the southwest corner of Tompkins Square 
also commemorates the burning of the Slocum in the East River, 
the victims being chiefly children living in this neighborhood. 

8. The Seventh Street M. E. Church, 24 Seventh Street, erected 
in 1836-7, succeeded the Bowery Village Church which was built in 
1795 at the Two-Mile stone on the site of Cooper Union (see 14). 

9. New York Marble Cemetery (gate at 41 2 Second Avenue), 
established in 1830, now almost forgotten, although there are over 
150 vaults here of the Judson, Lorillard, Grosvenor, Oates, Hol- 
land, Wyckoff and Bloodgood families, and 1,500 burials are re- 
corded. According to a scarcely decipherable inscription on the 
wall it was intended as a "place of interment for gentlemen." It 
is hoped that this old cemetery may be converted into a play- 
ground. 

10. New York City Marble Cemetery, Second Street, east of 
Second Avenue, incorporated in 1832. Here are buried James 
Lenox and two of the Dutch dominies, and here for a time were 
the remains of John Ericsson, President Monroe, and Mrs. Paran 
Stevens. 

The playground of the school on Second Street, between Av- 
enue A and First Avenue, occupies the graveyard of the Second 
Street M. E. Church, which was built in 1830, at 276 Second Street 
(see tablet). 

Hamilton Fish Park, between Pitt and Sheriff Streets, south of 
Houston Street, opened in 1896-8, two blocks of foul tenements, 
which included the notorious Bone Alley, being razed. See the open 
air gymnasium, playground, public baths and rest house. 

Go west on Second and north on Lafayette Street. 

The names of Elm Street, New Elm Street, including part of 
Marion Street, and Lafayette Place were changed in 1905 to Lafayette 
Street after the various divisions had been widened and improved. 

92 



Cooper Union MANHATTAN ii Route 

11. Colonnade Row, partly demolished, now at 428-434 La- 
fayette Street, formerly called La Grange Terrace, in honor of Gen- 
eral Lafayette's home, was built in 1827, and was for a time the 
home of Washington Irving and John Jacob Astor. From one 
of the houses in the row President Tyler was married to Julia 
Gardiner, of Gardiner's Island. 

12. Astor Library, built by John Jacob Astor, incorporated 
1849, opened 1854, and now part of the New York Public Library, 
contains many rare and very valuable books and prints. 

On this site, in the latter part of the Eighteenth century, Sperry, a Swiss, 
kept a fruit and flower garden, selling it in 1803 to Astor, who leased it to 
Delacroix. The latter here established his new Vauxhall Garden, which was a 
fashionable resort until 1855. Lafayette Place was opened through the Gar- 
den in 1826. Madame Canda's famous private school for young ladies was 
located here. 

13. Clinton Hall on Astor Place (home of the Mercantile Li- 
brary), successor of the original Clinton Hall on Beekman and Nas- 
sau Streets, was named for Dewitt Clinton, who in 1820 helped es- 
tablish the Mercantile Library. On this site was the Astor Place 
Opera House, the scene of the Forrest and Macready riots in 1849. 

Astor Place, originally called Art Street, connected the Bowery with Green- 
wich Avenue, forming part of the Inland Road to Greenwich, opened 1768 
(Excursion II, Route 10). 

See the statue of Samuel Sullivan Cox ("Sunset Cox"), the 
" Letter Carriers' Friend," in the public square created in 1836. 

Charlotte Temple is supposed to have lived for a time near the southwest 
corner of Astor Place (Art Street) and Fourth Avenue (Bowery). 

14. Cooper Union, devoted to " Science and Art," by Peter 
Cooper, in 1854, on the site of the "Two-Mile Stone" (see 8), 
where was held one of the first New York Sunday-Schools, Peter 
Cooper acting as Superintendent. See the free reading-room, li- 
brary, Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration. 

In the triangular place south, is the statue of Cooper (by St. 
Gaudens, 1896), on the site of which was a great hay-stand con- 
nected with Tompkins Market. The Seventh Regiment marched 
from this point in 1861.' 



93 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




94 



MANHATTAN 



ROUTE 12. 



SECTION II— THE BOWERY, CHATHAM! SQUARE AND 
COLLECT POND. 

(Figures refer to Plate XX; see also XVII). 

The Bowery Lane begins at Chatham Square and originally continued up 
Fourth Avenue to Madison Square (see Excursion V, Section 2). In .;En_glislt 
days it was called Bowery Road, shortened in 1807 to The Bozvery. Chatham 
Street (now Park Row) and the Bowery formed the chief and, "in fact, the 
only important thoroughfare northward until long after the Revolution. 

The Bayard Farm, owned by a nephew of Peter Stuyvesant, lay on the west 
side of the Bowery, between Bleecker and Canal Streets, extending west tq 
McDougal Street. Hester Street was namd for Hester Bayard. North of thi^ 
lay the Bleecker farm. 

On Grand Street was a line of British earthworks in the Revolution; 
Bunker Hill or Bayard's Mount was at Grand Street, between the Bowery and 
Broadway. The Bayard Mansion stood on the site of the block bounded by 
Grand, Broome. Crosby and Lafayette Streets, and was approached by Bayard 
Lane, on the line of Broome Street. 

Delancey Street was originally a lane from the house of James Delancey, 
Chief Justice, 1733, at the corner of Chrystie Street, about the site of the 
Mills Hotel No. 2. It has recently been widened and is to be parked as an 
approach to the Williamsburg Bridge. The Delancey Farm stretched along 
the Bowery to Division Street and east to the river. The estate was sold under 
forfeiture after the Revolution, the De Lanceys being loyalists. Division Street 
was so called because it marked the division between the above and the Rutgers 
farm. Great or Delancey Square, as planned in the Ratzer Map of 1767, would 
have been bounded by Broome and Hester, Eldridge and Essex Streets. ^ Oliver 
and James Streets are named for members of the family (see Plate XV^II). 

The Collect or Fresh JVater Fond, 60 feet deep, once covered 70 acres 
bounded by Lafayette, White, Mulberry and Leonard Streets. In 1626 the 
murder of an Indian here led to a massacre in Governor Kieft's day. The 
execution of criminals took place here in early Colonial days' and the supply 
of gunpowder was stored in a house at the back of the Pond. This was a 
favorite resort for fishermen and skaters, and here Fitz-Greene Halleck's father 
is said to have saved Prince William (later William I\^ of England) from 
drowning in 1781. In 1774 Christopher (Tolles built a pumping station at Pearl 
Street and Broadway and a reservoir at Broadway and White Street, in order 
to supply the city with water from the pond. The Little Collect was betweert 
Lafayette," Worth, Duane and Park Streets and joined with the Collect. J\} 
1796 John Fitch experimented with his steamboat on the Collect Pond which 
later became a menace to the health of the community and was filled in about 
1 82 1, its water being drained off by a cut made to the North River through 
Canal Street which then received its present name. 

Note: The usual explanation of the word Collect is that it comes from the 
Dutch " Kalch Floek " or " Lime Shell Point," supposed to be derived from 
the Indian shell heaps discovered here, but Mr. Edward Hagaman Hall found 
that " Kolk " is a common term used in Holland to designate an enclosed 
portion of a canal. 



95 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XX. Routes 12, 13. 
q6 



C. K. 



The Bowery MANHATTAN 12 Route 

Take Third Avenue car down the Bowery to Chatham Square, passing 

15. First Mile Stone, Bowery, opposite Rivington Street, and 
One Mile House, across the way. 

16. The Thalia Theatre (so called in 1879), just south of Canal 
Street, originally Bowery Theatre, and the fifth of that name and on 
the same site. The old Bowery Theatre (built 1826) was the first 
theatre in New York lighted by gas, and here Charlotte Cushman 
played to fashionable audiences. On the same site, in 1760, stood the 
Bull's Head Tavern, where drovers traded and where Washington 
rested on his entrance to the city in 1783. 

Forsyth Street Methodist Church, 8 Forsyth Street, near Canal 
Street, recently sold and turned into a Jewish playhouse. The orig- 
inal church was erected in 1789 and rebuilt 1833; remodeled in 1872-4. 

17. Chatham Square, called by the Indians Warpoes or Small Hill, a clear- 
ing in the woods fenced off for cattle in 1647, and granted to twelve old 
freedmen of the West India Company. Wolfert Weber's Tavern was located 
here. According to tradition, Charlotte Temple died in a house at the corner 
of Pell Street and Chatham Square. Chatham Square, Chatham and Pitt 
Streets were named for Wm. Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 

18. " The Jews' Burial Ground " (Oliver Street and New Bow- 
ery), as it is called on old city maps, granted in 1656 and deeded 
to the Jews in 1729-30, is the oldest Jewish cemetery in New 
York. In 1902 it was marked by a tablet erected under the aus- 
pices of The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society 
and The Jewish Historical Society. It was a fortified hill during 
the Revolution. 

The Tea Water Pump, one of the chief sources of the supply of drinking 
water in early days, was located at 166 Chatham Street (Park Row), just south 
of Chatham Square. Diagonally across the street was The Chatham or Purdy's 
National Theatre in which Uncle Tom's Cabin was first produced in 1852. 

The first Kissing Bridge crossed Old Wreck Brook at Roosevelt Street (Ex- 
cursion 1:46). This is the center of a Greek settlement. 

Go east on Henry Street. 

19. Mariners' Temple, Oliver and Henry Streets, now used as 
an Italian Church, was built in 1843 on the site of the old Oliver 
Street Baptist Church; see tablet. 

P. S. No. I, opposite 19, is the successor to the first 
Free School of Nezv York. (Excursion 1:8). 

20. Church of the Sea and Land, built in 1817, stands on 
Henry Street, southeast corner of Market Street; see tablet. 

Return on Henry Street to Chatham Square and go north on Mott 

Street. 

97 



Route 12 HISTORICAL GUIDE Five Points 

2T. Roman Catholic Church of the Transfiguration, corner of 
Mott and Park Streets, is successor to Zion Lutheran, later an 
Episcopal Church, built in 1801, rebuilt in 1818. This is the cen- 
ter of Chinatown. 

Go west on Park Street, crossing 

Mulberry Bend Park, made by the demolition of crowded blocks 
of tenement houses, giving light, air and recreation to the neigh- 
borhood. 

22. The Five Points, once a most dangerous part of the slums, 
now the site of Paradise Park, which is faced by the Five Points 
Mission, incorporated in 1850 (on the site of the notorious Old Brav- 
ery), and the Five Points House of Industry. In 1740 fourteen 
negroes were burned here during the Negro Insurrection. Here the 
" Dead Rabbits " had their headquarters and fought the " Bowery 
Boys." The Seventh Regiment, en route to escort ex-President Mon- 
roe's body to Virginia, were used to quell a riot here. 

Continue west on Park Street to Centre Street. 

23. The Manhattan Water Tank (consisting of iron plates fas- 
tened by metal pins), northwest corner of Reade and Centre 
Streets, now enclosed but visible through the windows. This tank 
was built by the Manhattan Water Company which was headed 
by Aaron Burr, whose real aim was to get a charter in 1799 for 
the Manhattan Bank, now at 40 Wall Street. (Excursion VII :23). 
The source of the water supply is the same springs which orig- 
inally filled the Collect Pond. Wooden pipes, made by boring 
logs, were laid through the streets. It is known to the nearby 
residents as " the old well." Good specimens of the pipes may be 
seen in the Manhattan Bank and in the New York Historical 
Society building. 

24. Cobwell Hall at 80 Duane Street, an old road-house, the 
framework of the building dating back to about 1780. See within 
the cobwebs and old pictures. 

Go up Centre Street, passing 

An old house dated 1831, at 54 Centre Street. 

25. The Tombs and the Criminal Court Building, joined by the 
Bridf^e of Si^^hs. The original Tombs was erected in 1838 of stone 
brought from the Bridewell in City Hall Square. The site is near the 
centre of the Collect Pond. 

98 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE 13. 

SECTION III— CORLAER'S HOOK PARK, AND GRAND 

STREET TO BROADWAY. 

(Figures refer to Plate XX). 

Take Canal Street car east to Scammel Street, passing 

through the Ghetto, so called from the large Jewish population. 

26. Wm. H. Seward Park and open-air playground made by the 
removal of several blocks of tenements. 

Go south on Scammel Street. 

27. All Saints' Church (built 1828), southeast corner of Henry 
and Scammel Streets. 

Go south on Scammel and east on Cherry Street to 

28. Corlaer's Hook Park which, with the adjacent territory, was 
part of Jacob Corlaer's lands in early Colonial days. The Indians 
named this Naig-ia-nac or Satid Lands, and here they had a village 
from which a trail ran on the line of Grand Street across the island 
and up to Sappokanican. Here, in 1643, a number of defenceless 
Indians were slaughtered by order of Governor Kieft. 

Go north to Grand Street and take car west on Grand Street to La- 
fayette Street, passing 

29. The statue of Gutenberg, inventor of movable type (by 
Ralph Goddard), on the Hoe Building, Grand and Sheriff Streets. 
An interesting old press may be seen within. Willett and Sheriff 
Streets were named for Colonel Marinus Willett of Revolution- 
ary fame. Sheriff and Mayor of New York about one hundred 
years ago. 

Mount Pitt was an eminence at Grand and Pitt Streets. 

30. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, at Grand and Ridge 
Streets, contains the oldest bell in a Catholic Church in Man- 
hattan. 

31. Old Essex Market (built 1818) and Police Court (1856), 
Essex and Grand Streets. Ludlow Street Jail, north of Essex 
Market, is the jail of New York County. It was used as a prison 
for debtors and, until recently, for Federal prisoners in New 
York City. It was built in 1859-60, succeeding the Eldridge 
Street Prison; see tablet. 

32. First building of the Board of Education, northwest corner 
of Lafayette Street, now used as a High School annex. See tab- 
let. 

9Q ' 



Route 13 HISTORICAL GUIDE St. Patrick's 

Go north on Lafayette to Prince Street, 

2,3. Monroe House, 6^ Prince Street, home of Samuel Gouver- 
neur when his father-in-law, ex-President Monroe, died there in 
1831. See the tablet erected in 1905 by the Woman's Auxiliary 
to the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. 

Go east on Prince Street to 

34. St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, between Mott and 
Elizabeth Streets, once the cathedral, built 1809-15. Vicar-Gen- 
eral Starr, the first resident Bishop Connelly and "Boss" John 
Kelly are buried here. 

Go west to Broadway. 

Site of Niblo's Garden and Theatre, northeast corner of Broadway and Prince 
Street, opposite which lived James Fenimore Cooper. 

The Garden later contained the famous Metropolitan Hotel (1852-94). 

Go north on Broadway. 

Z6. Hotel Raleigh, known once as the Tremont House, oppo- 
site Bond Street, consists in part of the first houses constructed 
with marble fronts in the city, built in 1825. 

624 Broadway, site of Laura Keene's Theatre, later the Olympic. 
677 Broadway, site of Tripler Hall and the first Metropolitan Opera House 
where Patti first sang in New York. 



100 



NOTES 



lOI 



NOTES 



102 



EXCURSION v.— THE NINETEENTH CENTURY CITY. 
TENTH TO ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH STREET. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley. 

Corrected (1909) with the aid of Hopper Striker Mott. 

Copyright, 1902, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XXI. Routes 14, 15, 16. 



C. K. 



104 



THE NINETENTH CENTURY CITY. 



Bibliography. 

Works by Ulmann, Janvier ("Down Love Lane"), R. R. Wilson, 
Hemstreet (particularly in "When Old New York was Young") 
mentioned in Excursion VIL 

" Felix Oldboy's Tour Around Old New York," by Colonel Mines. 

" Old New York," by Greatorex. 

Valentine's Manual of the Common Council of New York. 

" The New York of Yesterday — Bloomingdale," by Mott. 



Battle of Harlem Heights. 

" Battle of Harlem Heights," by Shepard in " Historic New York,' 

Vol. H. 
" The Battle of Harlem Heights," by Johnston. 
" The Campaign of 1776," by Johnston. 

"Field Book of the Revolution," Vol. H., p. 816, by Lossing. 
" History of Attacks on New York," by Stedman. 
"Memorial History of New York," Vol. H, by Wilson. 
" History of New York," Chap. VH, by Stone. 
" Transactions of the Long Island Historical Society," Vol. III. 



los 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 14. 

SECTION I.— UNION SQUARE TO GRA^IERCY PARK. 

(For Sections I, II and III, figures refer to Plate XXI.) 

General Viele's IMap in Wilson's Memorial History, Vol. IV, and 
the Commissioners Map of 1807 are useful in showing early houses, 
lanes and roads. 

Take Suhzvay to Fourteenth Street. 

I. Union Square, designated as Union Place by the Commissioners of the 
City Plan, who in 1807-11 laid out ^Manhattan on the "checker-board system." 
Because of the intersection of the Bowery and Broadway, this was left an 
open square, but not formally laid out until 1832, when Samuel B. Ruggles 
was instrumental in planning the park of three and one-half acres. Lower 
Broadway was made to bend at Tenth Street to avoid the demolition of the 
Brevoort homestead and it connected with the Road to Bloomingdale, which 
ran diagonally across the Square from Bowery, or New York Lane. 

Hendrick Brevoort's farm was bounded as follows: the southwest corner 
began at the middle of Fifth Avenue, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, ran 
north along ]\Iinetta Water, which was the westerly boundary, to a point about 
fifty feet north of Twelfth Street; thence east in a straight line to the west 
side of l-'ourth Avenue in Fourteenth Street, thence south along the west side 
of Fourth Avenue to a point about seventy-fiive feet north of Tenth Street, 
and thence west in a straight line to the point of beginning. Because of the 
opi)Osition of Brevoort, who wished to save a favorite tree, Eleventh Street 
was not cut through between Bloadway and Fourth Avenue. 

The Minto Estate, once owned by Lieutenant-Governor Elliott, then by 
Baron Poelnitz, and later part of the Randall Farm, lay south. The ground 
rents from this property to-day support the Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten 
Island. 

The Spingler Estate, bought from Elias Brevoort in 1788, adjoined the 
Brevoort I'arm on the north and was bounded as follows: the west line was 
^Minetta Water, the east line Fourth Avenue and a prolongation of Blooming- 
dale Road, the north line ran from a ]ioint now in Union S(iuare at a point 
about equidistant between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Streets in a straight line 
to a point about fifty feet north of the north side of Fourteenth Street and 
two hundred feet cast of the easterly side of Sixth Avenue, and the south line 
bordered on the Brevoort Farm. 

The large fountain in the center of Union Square dates from 
1842 when Croton water was introduced into the city. The small 
fountain facing Broadway at Sixteenth Street was donated to the 
city by D. Willis James and erected in 1881. It was designed by 
Adolf Donndorf of Stuttgart and founded in bronze in Brunswick, 
German3\ 

The bronze equestrian statue of Washington, copied from Hou- 
don, was erected by city merchants at the spot where Washington 
was received by the citizens on Evacuation Day, November 25, 
1783, and was dedicated July 4, 1856. This is the oldest public 
statue in the city which stands in its original place, and was the 
work of Henry K. Brown. 

106 



Union Square MANHATTAN 14 Route 

Near the statue there was held in 1861 a great war meeting in 
response to Lincoln's call for troops. Facing it is the statue of 
Lafayette, modelled by Bartholdi and presented in 1876 to the 
city by French residents as a token of gratitude for American 
sympathy in the Franco-Prussian War. 

At the southwest corner of the Square see the bronze statue of 
Lincoln, by H. K. Brown, erected by popular subscription under 
the auspices of the Union League Club about 1866. 
Go west on Sixteenth Street 

2. Home of William Cullen Bryant, 24 West Sixteenth Street. 
Pass the Church and College (opened in 1847) of St. Francis 
Xavier. 

3. Paisley Place or Weavers' Row, a double row of rear 
wooden houses entered by alleys at 115-117 West Sixteenth Street 
and 112-114 West Seventeenth Street. They were built about 1822 
to accommodate Scotch weavers from Paisley who fled to this part 
of the city to escape yellow fever. 

Go down Sixth Avenue and west on Fourteenth Street. 

4. Cruger Mansion, 126-130 West Fourteenth Street, between 
Sixth and Seventh Avenues, once the home of the Metropolitan 
iMuseum of Art. In the Metropolitan Temple at Fourteenth 
Street and Seventh avenue are Memorial windows to ex-Presi- 
dents McKinley and Roosevelt. 

Go east on Fourteenth Street. 

5. The Van Beuren House, 21 West Fourteenth Street (built 
about 1855), one of the last private residences on this block and the 
second homestead of the Spingler Estate. This family is distinct 
from that to which President Van Buren belonged. 

Go down Fifth Avenue and west on Thirteenth Street. 
At 36 West Thirteenth Street (Steeple Building) and 43-45 West 
Twelfth Street, see in the oblique walls of the buildings traces of the 
old Union Road which originally connected Skinner Road (the con- 
tinuation of Christopher Street) with the Southampton Road at 
Fifteenth Street and Seventh Avenue (Section III, A). Note the 
lines of these roads and of Minetta Brook on Plate XXI. 

6. 60 West Thirteenth Street (occupied 1897-1905 by the De- 
Witt Clinton High School), famous as the " old Thirteenth Street 
School," once under the principalship of Dr. Hunter ^founder of the 
Normal College) whose graduates have formed the l^homas Hunter 
Association. 

107 



Route 14 HISTORICAL GUIDE Union 

Go down to Sixth Avenue. 

7. Milligan Place (old Milligan's Lane), west side of Sixth 
Avenue, between Tenth and Eleventh Streets, once connected Amos 
(West Tenth) Street with the Union Road. Note the slant of the 
building on the north side marking the original direction of the 
Lane. 

Go zvest on Eleventh Street. 

8. The "Grapevine" (Sixth Avenue and West Eleventh Street) 
was once a popular roadhouse on the old Union Road. 

9. The second "Beth Haim " (House of Rest), a Jewish Ceme- 
tery, was established here 1804-5 (the early cemetery being still 
visible at Oliver Street and New Bowery. (Excursion III:i8.) It 
was used as a burial place for strangers, but became the regular 
cemetery of the congregation in 1882. In 1829, Eleventh Street east 
of Sixth Avenue was opened by the City Commissioners, encroaching 
largely on the cemetery, w^hereupon a third site was purchased in 
1830 at the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and Twenty-first 
Street (Section II:3i). 

At 3S West Eleventh Street, note the building in the rear (cistern 
and chimney), which was near the line of the Union Road. 

Go north on Fifth Avenue. 

10. The Old First Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue, between 
Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, successor to the early church on 
Wall Street founded in 1719. See tablet (Excursion VII :2o). 

Opposite, on Fifth Avenue, are the two Lenox Houses. 

Go east on Thirteenth Street to University Place, then east on IVest 
Twelfth Street. 

IT. Tablet, southeast corner of Thirteenth Street and Univer- 
sity Place, erected in 1908 by the officers and veterans of the Ninth 
Regiment, National Guard, State of New York, organized in 1799, 
acting as the Eighty-third New York Volunteers in the Civil War, 
From their headquarters, site marked by the tablet, " they marched 
away 850 strong. May 27, 1861. They returned home June 11, 1864, 
with 17 officers and 78 enlisted men after having gone through 24 
battles." 



108 



Square MANHATTAN 14 Route 

12. New York Society Library at 109 University Place, the 
oldest public library in America, established in 1700 in the English 
City Hall by Governor Bellomont, incorporated in 1754 as the City 
Library and chartered by George HI in 1772 as the New York 
Society Library. The present building was erected in 1856. See within 
many rare prints of old New York ; complete files of local news- 
papers, all the well-known histories, guide books, directories, etc., of 
New York. 

13. Old Twelfth Street School, once under the principalship of 
Lydia Wadleigh who did so much to promote free education for 
girls. 

Go down Broadway to 

14. Grace Churchyard. See the sun dial, doliola and marble 
seat. The doliola, made to hold grain, was found while digging for 
the foundation of St. Paul's on the Via Nationale in Rome, and was 
presented by the late Dr. Nevin of that church. Two like it re- 
main in St. Paul's Church garden. Grace Church originally stood 
at Broadway and Rector Street. (Excursion VHrig). The present 
building was erected in 1845. 

Go east on Tenth Street to Fourth Avenue, north to Fourteenth 

and then east. 

15. The Academy of Music, corner of Irving Place, the first 
building erected in 1854, rebuilt 1868, the home of opera in New 
York until 1883. 

16. Tammany Hall, fourth building of the Tammany Society, 
Columbian Order, established in 1786. See on the front " Tammany 
Society, 1789-1867 " and the figure of St. Tammany, the Indian 
Chief. Within the building may be seen some valuable historical 
paintings and prints. The " Wigwam " on the top floor contains the 
emblems of the Society. 

Go north on Irving Place. 

17. House of Washington Irving, southwest corner of Seven- 
teenth Street, opposite the new Washington Irving High School. 

Go east on Eighteenth Street. 

18. Bayard Taylor's Home, "the Stuyvesant," 142 East Eigh- 
teenth Street, one of the oldest apartment houses in New York; 
built in 1869 on the French model by Rutherford Stuyvesant whose 
family still owns it. 

109 



Route 14 HISTORICAL GUIDE Gramercy Park 

Go north on Irving Place to 

19. Gramercy Park. Innes says that the name was derived 
from " Krom merssche " or " Krom moerasje " (crooked little swamp), 
formed by the shape of Cedar Creek which flowed from Madison 
Square and emptied into the East River at Eighteenth Street. In 
1780 Gramercy Seat was the 20-acre farm of James Duane (Maj'or 
1783-88), and later became the property of Samuel B. Ruggles, who 
in December, 1831, set apart to trustees 42 lots for the creation of 
Gramercy Park. Accordi;ig to the deed, they were to surround the 
plot with an iron railing with ornamental gates, and by January i, 
1834, to lay out the grounds and plant trees. The tenants occupying 
the 60 lots bounding it were to have the right of access thereto as 
a place of common resort and recreation, providing each contributed 
ten dollars per year for its maintenance. The work was completed 
in 1840. See tablet set in the sidewalk near the west gate. 

20. The Samuel J. Tilden House (now the National Arts Club) 
is at 14-15 Gramercy Park South. It is noted for its sculptured 
front. See the medallion heads of Shakespeare, Milton, Dante, 
Goethe and Franklin. 

Go zvest on Tzventieth Street, passing the 

21. Home of the Carey Sisters at 53 East Twentieth Street and 

22. The birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt, 28 East Twentieth 
Street. 

23. Horace Greeley lived at 35 East Nineteenth Street. 

Return to Union Square. 



no 



MANHATTAN 
ROUTE 15. 

SECTION II.— MADISON SQUARE AND VICINITY. 

24. Madison Square (6.84 acres) was originally planned and used as a 
" Parade Ground " to extend from Twenty-third to Thirty-fourth Streets and 
from Third to Seventh Avenues. The territory it covered was bounded on the 
west by the Bloomingdale Road and was crossed by the Old Post Road. The 
double ROW of trees seen from the fountain, looking north to Madison Avenue, 
denotes the bed of the Old Post Road which was closed April 27, 1844, by 
resolution of the Common Council. (See Appendix — " The Ciiy Milestones and 
the Old Post Road.") To Mayor Harper (1844) must be given the credit for 
the improvement of the Square. The triangle south of the Post Road, a part of 
the Common Lands, belonged to the city; that part thereof to Twenty-sixth 
Street was purchased in 1845, largely from General Theodorus Bailey, the City 
Postmaster. Such part as the city owned was legally opened as a park on May 
10, 1844. Proceedings to acquire title to that part not purchased of General 
Bailey were confirmed May 3, 1847, at a total cost of $65,952. Fifth Avenue, 
from Twenty-third to Twenty-eighth Streets, was ordered filled in and regu- 
lated in March, 1845. The park was ordered lighted by gas in 1852 and was 
limited to its present dimensions by Chapter 177 of the Laws of 1837. 

The Potter's Field was in Madison Square between 1794-7. 

See the statues of Wm. H. Seward, by Rogers, 1876; Roscoe Conk- 
lin, by J. Q. A. Ward, 1893; Admiral Farragut, by St. Gaudehs, 
erected in 1881 by the Farragut Memorial Association, and Chester A. 
Arthur, by Bissell, 1899. The small drinking fountain was given by 
Miss Catherine Wolfe and the large one by Mrs. O. E. P. Stokes. 

25. The Worth Monument (of Quincy granite, 51 feet high) 
by James C. Batterson, erected in 1857 at the junction of Fifth 
Avenue, Broadway and Twenty-fifth Street by the corporation of the 
city, to honor Major-General Worth, who distinguished himself in 
the Mexican War. His body rests beneath the monument. See the 
equestrian figure of Worth in high relief on the south face of the 
monument. 

The United States Arsenal stood near the site of the Worth Monument from 
1808 to 1824. The deed of the City authorities to the general government of 
land for the site of the arsenal, or magazine (as the old maps have it), was 
dated November 17, 1807. The possibility of the War of 181 2 caused its con- 
struction as a defensive measure. The United States conveyed the building and 
its rights to the site to the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, 
July 21, 1824, for $6,000. Two wings were added by the Society, one for each 
sex and the remodeled edifice opened January i, 1825. After its destruction by 
fire in 1839, a new building was erected at Bellevue in October of the following 
year, and the inmates, on its abandonment in 1854, were removed to Randall's 
island. 

Go east through the Square to 

26. Madison Square Garden, opened in 1890, on the site of the 
old Harlem R. R. Station and later the site of a Hippodrome opened 
by Barnum in 1873. It was first called by its present name on May 

3T, 1879- 

27. The Appellate Court House, Twenty-fifth Street and Madi- 
son Avenue, James Brown Lord, architect. The symbolic mural 
paintings in the main entrance and the Court Room are by well-known 
American artists and of special interest. 



Route 15 HISTORICAL GUIDE Madison 

Cross Madison Square to Twenty-Third Street and Fifth Avenue. 

28. Site of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The farm on which this famous hostelry 
stood belonged to John Horn, whose homestead was in the center of Fifth Av- 
enue, just south of Twenty-third Street. This " House of John Horn " was 
designated in the Law of 1703 as the starting point of the Bloomingdale Road. It 
was occupied by Christojiher Mildeberger (who married Horn's daughter) when 
Fifth Avenue was opened in 1837. On petition, the Common Council granted 
that it should remain on its site until November, 1839. After its removal to the 
site of the Fifth Avenue Hotel in that year, it was a tavern kept by Thompson, 
known as the " Madison Cottage." Here it stood until 1853 (i4. years) when it 
was torn down to make way for Franconi's Hippodrome which was opened 
in 1853 and occupied the entire block front. The hotel, which was razed in 
1908, succeeded this building. In this hotel was erected in 1859 the first pas- 
senger elevator. 

Go dozvn Fifth Avenue to West Twenty-Hrst Street, passing 

29. Tablet at 5 West Twenty-second Street, marking the site 
of the home of S. F. B. Morse. 

The Buckhorn Tavern was on the southeast corner of Broadway and Twenty- 
second Street. 

The Union House stood at the corner of Love Lane (Twenty-first Street) 
and Bloomingdale Road. On its second floor the Civil District Court was held 
for many years. This building was the residence of Jacob, son of John Horn, 
and was built by him. 

Go west on Twenty-iirst Street, the line of Abingdon Road. 

30. The Home of Chester A. Arthur, 34 West Twenty-first 
Street, at the time of his accession to the presidency. 

31. Beth Haim, the third Jewish Cemetery, best seen from 
the staircase at the rear of O'Neill's store, at the corner of Twenty- 
first Street and Sixth Avenue. A cemetery was established here in 
1830 (Section l:g). 

Go north on Sixth Avenue to Twenty-third Street. 

32. Bust and tablet of Edwin Booth at 70 West Twenty-third 
Street, marking the site of Booth's Theatre. " 

^2,' Schermerhorn Mansion, 49 West Twenty-third Street, the 
last private residence on the block. When erected, the population 
of New York was 700,000; stages ran on Broadway; horse cars 
were in common use ; Harlem trains ran to White and Center Streets 
and Hudson River trains to Varick and Beach Streets. 

Take Twenty-third Street Cross Town car east, passing 

34. College of the City of New York, established at the corner of Twentj'- 
third Street and Lexington Avenue in 1848-9. It was then known as the Free 
Academy, but in 1866 received its charter as a college. The new buildings on 
West One-hundred and Thirty-eighth Street were formally opened in 1908. 

35. Site of Bull's Head Tavern, northwest corner of Third Avenue and 
Twenty-fourth Street, the third of the name (See Excursion I: 19 and III: 16), 
built about 1826 by Thomas Swift and owned for years by " Uncle Dan'l " 
Drew of steamboat fame. It was the headquarters of the drovers and butchers 
of New York until 1848 when the cattle market was moved to Forty-second 
Street. The region between Twenty-third and Twenty-seventh Streets, Second 
and Fourth Avenues was known as the Bull's Head Village and was part of 
the old Rose Hill Farm. 

112 



Square MANHATTAN 15 Koute 

36. Gate and wall of the old House of Refuge at the entrance 
to a storage yard on the north side of Twenty-third Street, between 
First Avenue and Avenue A, to which site the institution was re- 
moved in 1839. 

Go north on Avenue A and through the grounds of the Department 
of Charities to Twenty-sixth Street. 

37. Bellevue Hospital, on what was the Belle Vue Farm. 
The City hospital was moved here in 1810 from the neighbor- 
hood of City Hall Park, together with the penitentiary and alms- 
house, the last two being later removed to Blackwell's Island. 
The first ambulance service in the world was inaugurated in i860 
by this hospital. See on the portico at the entrance to the main 
building a bit of peculiarly wrought iron railing, beneath which is 
a tablet stating that this formed part of the balcony of Federal 
Hall where Washington delivered his first Inaugural Address. 
Another portion of the railing is in the New York Historical 
Society Building. (Excursion VII :2i). The main or gray stone 
building was the original Bellevue Hospital, the corner stone of 
which was laid in 1812. 

IValk zvest on Tzventy-seventh Street 

.38. The Peter Coof^er House, moved in 1820 from the site of the Bible 
House to Twenty-eighth Street and Fourth Avenue, remained here until 1909. 

39. The Church du St. Esprit (45 East Twenty-seventh Street), 
the successor to the original Huguenot Church, built in 1688 in 
Petticoat Lane. (Excursion VII: 13 and 1:28). See tablet in the 
vestibule, erected in 1902 by the Huguenot Society of America. 

Go north on Fifth Avenue to Twenty-ninth Street. 

40. Church of the Transfiguration (5 East Twenty-ninth 
Street), often called "The Little Church Around the Corner," 
from the remark of the curate of a near by church who, on being 
asked to officiate at the funeral of Stoddard, the actor, refused, 
adding that " perhaps the rector of the little church around the 
corner might be willing to serve." The church was .opened in 
1856. From it have been buried Wallack, Booth and Boucicault. 
See the Lich Gate and memorial window to Edwin Booth. 



Route 15 HISTORICAL GUIDE 

41. Marble Collegiate Reformed Church, Twenty-ninth Street 
and Fifth Avenue, dedicated in 1854. See tablet commemorating 
its succession to the " Church in the Fort " and, in the yard, the 
bell which originally hung in the North Church. (Section IV: 
5 and Excursion 1:37). 

Go west on Twenty-ninth Street to Sixth Avenue and south to 

42. Mouquin's Restaurant, located on the old Varian Farm, the 
homestead of which family stood on the west side of Bloomingdale 
Road, near the corner of Twenty-sixth Street (just north of it). 
In the homestead were born, 1793, Isaac Leggett Varian, Mayor 
1839-40, and his brother William. The latter inherited the portion 
of the farm on which the building on Sixth Avenue is located, and 
he built and lived in the house. It was known for years as the 
" Knickerbocker Cottage," the Varians being a Knickerbocker family. 



114 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE i6. 

SECTION III— LOVE LANE AND CHELSEA VILLAGE. 

Fourteenth to Twenty-fourth Streets; Sixth to Tenth Avenues. 
A. LOVE LANE AND TRACES OF THE OLD ROADS. 

The Abingdon Road (named for the Earl of Abingdon, son-in-law of Sir 
Peter Warren), or "Love Lane" originally followed the line of West Twenty- 
first Street from the Bloomingdale Road to a point east of Eighth Avenue 
where it turned slightly northwest to Chelsea (traces at 318 and 342-346 West 
Twenty-first Street and the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-first 
Street). It was met just east of Sixth Avenue by the Southampton Road 
(traces at Paisley Place, Section 1:3); east of Seventh Avenue by the War- 
ren Road (traces at 148 West Nineteenth Street and 154 West Seventeenth 
Street) ; east of Eighth Avenue it crossed the Fitzroy Road (running from 
Fifteenth to Forty-second Streets; traces remaining at 254 West Twentieth 
Street, 256 West Eighteenth Street and 246-250-252 West Seventeenth Street) ; 
and east of Ninth Avenue by a Fourth road (traces at 339 West Twenty-first 
Street, 346 and 368-370 West Eighteenth Street, 352-356 West Seventeenth 
Street, 352-354 West Sixteenth Street, 367 West Fifteenth Street and 112 
Ninth Avenue). 

These four roads connected Love Lane with the Great Kill Road which fol- 
lowed the line of Gansevoort Street, extended to Sixteenth Street east of Seventh 
Avenue (traces in oblique wall of St. Joseph's Home, northwest corner of 
Fifteenth Street and Seventh Avenue). 

Quaint houses, some with oriel windows and newel posts, many of them 
reached through alleyways, survive on Twentieth Street between Eighth and 
Ninth Avenues, on Eighteenth Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and 
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets between Seventh and Eighth Avenues; also 
along Seventh and Eighth Avenues between Fifteenth and Twenty-third Streets. 

B. CHELSEA. 

Chelsea is the name applied to that part of the city between Eighth Av- 
enue, the Hudson, Nineteenth and Twenty-fourth Streets, and was so called for 
the homestead of Captain Clarke, a veteran of the French and Indian Wars. 
His house, (43 in map) named for the Soldiers' Home near London, was 
built in 1750, about 200 feet west of the present Ninth Avenue between 
Twenty-second and Twenty-third Streets, the grounds running down to the 
river which then came nearly to Tenth Avenue. It was rebuilt by ** Mistress 
Molly Clarke," who lived here until 1802. Her daughter married Bishop 
Moore, whose son, Clement C. Moore, lived here until 1850. Here, in 1822, he 
wrote the familiar poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas," 

" 'Twas the night before Christmas," etc. 
Through his agency streets were opened through this property in 1823. The 
old house was torn down in 1852-3 when the bluffs along the river shore were 
leveled and the shore line extended west. 

The whole shore line is being improved, entire blocks of buildings having been 
demolished to make way for modern warehouses and the new streets which are 
being constructed along the river front. 

Tablet on an isle-of-safety at Twenty-second Street and Twelfth 
Avenue marks the " Chelsea Improvement," a great system of new 
docks not yet completed and meant to accommodate the largest 
merchant vessels afloat. 

Take Ninth Avenue Elevated R. R. to Twenty-third Street or Twenty- 
third Street car to Ninth Avenue. 

43. Site of Chelsea, original homestead of Captain Clarke and Clement C. 
Moore (see above). 

IIS 



Route i6 HISTORICAL GUIDE Chelsea 

44. London Terrace, the familiar row of tall pilastered houses 
with deep front yards on Twenty-third Street between Ninth and 
Tenth Avenues, erected in 1845 by Wm. Torrey when this was a 
fashionable residence quarter. 

At 436 West Twenty-second Street is the old mansion once the 
home of Edwin Forrest and little altered since his time. 

45. Chelsea Cottages, a row of small houses with little front 
yards on West Twenty-fourth Street between Ninth and Tenth 
Avenues, built 1845. 

Go down Ninth Avenue to 

46. Chelsea Square, the block between Twentieth and Twenty- 
first Streets ancf Ninth and Tenth Avenues, on which are the 
buildings of the General Theological Seminary. The land was 
given by C. C. Moore and the West Building (still standing) was 
erected in 1835. The Square with its green lawns, quadrangles 
and ivy covered buildings, the library, chapel and refectory, is 
well worth a visit. 

47. St. Peter's Church, on Twentieth Street, east of Ninth 
Avenue, was built in 1836-8 on land given by C C. Moore. See 
within tablets to IMoore and Dr. Hugh Smith. The rectory, just 
west, was the original St. Peter's Chapel. 

48. 114 Ninth Avenue, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth 
Streets, an old house with outside stairs and gambrel window 
reached through a rear alley which originally faced a road used as a 
short cut from Greenwich Village to Chelsea. See also the old 
house at 112 Ninth Avenue. 

49. Old House at 346 West Sixteenth Street, with gambrel 
roof and outside stairs. 

]\Iany other old houses may be seen between Ninth and Seventh 
Avenues along Twentieth to Fifteenth Streets (see A above). 



116 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE 17. 

SECTION IV.— MURRAY HILL TO CENTRAL PARK. 

(Figures refer to Plate XXII.) 

Take Subway or Madison Avenue car to Thirty-third Street; go up 

the steps to Thirty-fourth Street. 

Murray Hill is the height between Thirty-fourth and Forty-second Streets, 
Third Avenue and Broadway, and was named for Robert Murray, a Tory whose 
wife, Mary Lindley, by a clever stratagem delayed Howe (September 15, 1776) 
in his pursuit of Washington. The cornfield where Washington tried to rally 
the American troops was on the Murray farm, somewhere between the sites of 
the Grand Central Station and Bryant Park. The Murray estate was called 
Incleberg, and extended between Thirty-third and Thirty-seventh Streets, from 
the Boston to the Bloomingdale Road. _ 

The Park Avenue Tunnel was built under Murray Hill in 1837 to accom- 
modate the first horsecar line in the world, running from Harlem to Chambers 
Street. Later it was used by the Harlem Railroad, the terminal being at 
White and Centre Streets. 

Go Up Park Avenue to 

1. Tablet, erected by the Knickerbocker Chapter of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution, to mark the site of the Mur- 
ray House, on a boulder in a park space at Thirty-seventh Street 
and Park Avenue, where the house stood until 1834. 

Go west on Thirty-seventh Street to 

2. Brick Presbyterian Church, at. the corner of Fifth Avenue, 
organized in 1767, the original building in Park Row (Excursion I: 
14). See in the lecture room (open all day) interesting collection of 
historical portraits and relics of the old church. 

Go up Fifth Avenue to Fortieth Street and then west, passing 

3. Nev^r York Public Library, erected 1902-10 on the Astor- 
Lenox-Tilden foundation. 

4. Bryant Park (so called in 1884, but originally known as 
Reservoir Square) was bought by the city in 1822 and used as a 
Potter's Field until, in 1842, it became the site of the first dis- 
tributing reservoir of the Croton Aqueduct, now torn down to make 
way for the Library. See portions of the reservoir walls. In the 
western part of the Park stood the Crystal Palace, where the first 
World's Fair in America was held in 1853. In 1858 an ovation was 
given here to Cyrus \V. Field, on the completion of the Atlantic Cable 
and soon after the building was destroyed by fire. 

Go through the Park to Forty-second Street, passing 
The colossal bust of Washington Irving (unveiled 1866) op- 
posite the Fortieth Street entrance and the statue of Dr. J. Marion 
Sims, on the north side of the Park. 

Go north on Fifth Avenue. 
117 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




ii8 



Murray Hill MANHATTAN 17 Route 

5. The Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church, at Forty-eighth 
Street. Note the tablet to commemorate its connection with the 
" Church in the Fort." Within may be seen a tablet erected by 
the Daughters of the Revolution, State of New York, to honor 
the soldiers and sailors of the Revolution. In the lecture room is 
an interesting collection of historical pictures and books, includ- 
ing the portraits in oil of its ministers since 1699. The bell 
which hangs in the steeple was cast in Amsterdam in 1728. It 
was bequeathed by Abraham De Peyster, whilom mayor of the 
city, a son of Johannes, the founder of the family in America, 
to the Middle Dutch Church on Nassau Street, between Cedar 
and Liberty Streets. (Excursion 1:27). When the edifice was 
used as a City Post Office, the bell was removed to the church 
at Ninth Street near Broadway, thence to the church on Lafayette 
Place and later to its present location, 

6. St. Patrick's Cathedral, projected by Archbishop Hughes in 
1850 and costing $2,500,000. See within the vestibule at the south 
end a framed account of the title of the property, acquired by the 
trustees of St. Patrick's in 1852 for $59,500. 

Go east on Fiftieth Street. 

7. Tablet on the east side of Madison Avenue, between Forty- 
ninth and Fiftieth Streets, marking the site of Columbia College 
which was moved here from College Place in 1857 (Excursion I, 
21). The Elgin Botanical Garden, founded in 1801 by Dr. Hosack, 
Professor of Botany in Columbia, occupied the blocks between 
Forty-seventh and Fifty-first Streets and west nearly to Sixth Avenue, 
on land given Columbia by the State, to make good the claims of 
the college to a New .Hampshire township. Two English yews once 
in the garden were transplanted to the new site at Morningside 
Heights. 

Return to Fifth Avenue and take electric bus to the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art, passing the 

8. Sherman Statue at the Plaza, designed by St. Gaudens and 
erected in 1904. Three blocks west on Fifty-ninth Street is the 

0. Columbus Column at the Circle, presented to the city by 
Italian citizens at the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the 
discovery of America. 

Central Park was planned in 1851 and laid out by "the Com- 
missioners of Central Park" in 1859, Frederick Law Olmstead 
and Calvert Vaux executing the plans. The Park contains many 
statues of famous men. 

119 



Route 17 HISTORICAL GUIDE Central Park 

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art (near Eightj^-first Street), 
may be seen a fine collection of historical relics. 

Cleopatra's Needle, near by, was presented in 1877 by the 
Khedive of Egypt, the. expense of its transportation from Alex- 
andria to New York being paid by Commodore Vanderbilt. 

In the American Museum of Natural History at Seventy-seventh 
Street and Central Park west, is a large collection of Indian relics 
excavated at Inwood, the Bronx and Staten Island. 

N. B. For historic points in the northern part of Central Park 
see Excursion IV, Section I. 



120 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE i8. 

SECTION V— BLOOMINGDALE. 

(Figures refer to Plate XXIII and letters to Plate XXII.) 

Sometime after the settlement of the Island of Manhattan, the middle west 
section received the name Blocmendael (vale of flowers) from the Dutch town 
of that name. In early times the only access to the region was- by water and 
by a few farm roads. Later it was bisected by the Road to Bloomingdale 
which ran its length through the Bloomingdale District, the name given it by 
the Law of 1703 under which the road was opened from Twenty-third Street 
and Broadway to One-hundred and Fifteenth Street and the present Riverside 
Drive. This road in a large measure followed the line of present Broadway. 
In 1795 it was extended to One-hundred and Forty-seventh Street, where it 
was merged in the Kingsbridge Road. In the territory which it traversed were 
a number of hamlets, one being at the Great Kill, the longest and deepest 
stream which indented the west shore of the island, with an outlet at Fort^y'- 
second Street. The settlement at this spot extended into the fifties, Harsenville 
was located in the seventies. Striker's Bay in the nineties and Bloomingdale 
Village centered at One Hundredth Street. Each of these was a distinct lo- 
cality and up to the opening of the Civil War had yet a semblance of village 
life. In Dutch times, the entire territory from Fourteenth Street to Claremont 
was known as Bloomingdale,- — Greenwich and Chelsea being names of later 
English derivation. It was a favorite suburban section. Some few old man- 
sions survive, but none of Revolutionary date. 

Take Siibzvay to Times (Longacre) Square. 

In 1872 Longacre Square became the New York center of the carriage in- 
dustry begun by Brewster and others and one of the trade journals likened it to 
London's Longacre Street in which the carriage trade was centred. The square 
having, at the time, no name the city authorities gave it that of Longacre. 

A. Tablet over doorway at 1493-1505 Broadway, between 
Forty-third and Forty-fourth Streets, erected in 1893 by the Sons 
of the Revolution to commemorate the meeting of Washington 
and Putnam on September 15, 1776. 

B. In the basement of the Hotel Astor may be seen a valuable 
collection of pictures of old New York. In the barroom is a 
painting showing the house of Medcef Eden, an Englishman who 
owned the neighboring property originally, and died of yellow 
fever in one of the early epidemics. 

Take Forty-second Street-Tenth Avenue cars to Fifty-third Street. 

C. DeWitt Clinton Park, between Fifty-second and Fifty- 
fourth Streets, Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues ; note the play- 
grounds, pergola, children's farm gardens and the recreation pier 
(foot of Fiftieth Street). The site was part of a farm which had 
remained in the Hopper family for 200 years. 

In the center of Fifty-third Street, as laid out, stood the mansion 
of General Garrit Hopper Striker (Section VI :4) which was built 
in 1752 and was one of the oldest landmarks in the city when torn 
down in 1896. The Mott Homestead stood at Fifty-fourth Street 
on the river bank from 1796 until demolished in 1897. Both these 
residences, as well as Striker's and Mott's Lanes, were obliterated 
by the laying out of the Park. 

121 



Route i8 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



DeWitt Clinton 




Plate XXIII. Route 18. 



C. K. 



D. In the DeWitt Clinton High School at Fifty-ninth Street 
and Tenth Avenue are two large mural paintings illustrating scenes 
in connection with the completion of the Erie Canal. 
Take Tenth Avenue car to Eighty-ninth Street; pass en route the 

site of 

1. The Somerindyke House, northeast corner of Seventy-fifth Street and 
Bloomingdale Road (Broadway). Here Louis Philippe lived and taught school 
during his exile. It was occupied by Hessians during the Revolution and razed 
in 1868. 

2. The Collegiate School at 241-243 West Seventy-seventh 
Street, a direct descendant of the first Dutch school (1633) on Stone 
Street (Excursion VII :i2; see H. W. Dunshee's history of the 
school). 

122: 



Bloomingdale MANHATTAN 18 Route 

3. Van den Heuvel Mansion, torn down 1905, in the block between Broad- 
way and West End Avenue, Seventy-eighth and Seventy-ninth Streets. It was 
built about 1792 by Cornelius Van den Heuvel, the Governor of Demarara, and 
after 1839 was used as a tavern and known as Burnham's Mansion House. 
Burnham's original tavern, a favorite resort for driving parties, was at Seven- 
tieth Street and the Road. 

4. Poe Cottage, Eighty-fourth Street, on the east side of Bloominjrdale Road. 
Here Poe and his wife Virginia boarded with a family named Brennan during 
the summers of 1843 and 1844. During this time he wrote "The Raven" 
which first appeared in print in the New York Mirror in January, 1845. 

Walk west on Eighty-ninth Street to 

5. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, erected in 1900-2 by 
the city to honor the heroes of the Civil War. Note view of 
Palisades, Ft. Washington Point, etc. 

Go north on Riverside Drive. 

6. The site of Oak Villa, between Ninetieth and Ninety-first Streets, west of 
West End Avenue, the country seat of Brockholst Livingston, grandson of 
Philip, second Lord of the Manor in Columbia County, New York. He was a 
Colonel of the Revolutionary Army, Judge of the Supreme Court and Associate 
Justice on the Federal Supreme Bench. He died in 1833 and was buried in 
the family vault in the yard of the Wall Street Presbyterian Church. The 
massive oaks standing in the Park at Ninety-first Street were on the Living- 
ston property and gave the name " Oak Villa." 

7. The site of the Apthorp Mansion, built in 1764 by Charles Ward Apthorp, 
a member of His Majesty's Council, between Ninety-first and Ninety-second 
Streets, just west of Columbus Avenue. It was the headquarters of Generals 
Howe, Clinton, Carleton and Cornwallis at successive stages of the British 
occupation. A rich English merchant, William Jauncey, (after whom 
Jauncey Court in Wall Street was named), bought the property in 1799 and 
the Cross Road to Harlem, afterward Apthorp Lane, leading to the house was 
known by his name for many years, and is so carried to this day on old maps. 

8. Site of the Striker's Bay Mansion, at Ninety-sixth Street, on hill east of 
viaduct. An old elm on the property inspired George W. Morris in 1837 to 
write " Woodman, spare that tree." As a result, the tree was spared and 
in 1862 Morris testified that it was still standing. The mansion occupied the 
west line of the British^ outposts during the Battle of Harlem Heights. 

Other well-known families who had permanent residences or country seats in 
Bloomingdale were the Bayards, Beekmans, Bownes, Leggetts, Danas, Have- 
meyers, Howlands, Lawrences, Schuylers, van Nordens, Rikers, de Peysters, De 
Lanceys, McVickars, Strikers, Hoppers, Posts, Schieflfelins, Meiers, Whitlocks, 
Weymans, Webber^, Cozines, Dyckmans, Harsens, Cuttings, Rogers, Wilkes, 
Wells, Clendinings, Jumels and Motts. 

9. St. Michael's Episcopal Church at Ninety-ninth Street and 
Amsterdam Avenue stands on the site of the old wooden church, 
erected in 1806. ("Annals of the Parish," by Dr. John P. Peters). 

10. The. Furniss House, on Riverside Drive, between Ninety- 
ninth and One Hundredth Streets, was erected by William P. Furniss 
in 1843. Just north of it was the 

11. Humphrey Jones House, on the river bluff, between One Hundred and 
First and One Hundred and Second Streets. (See Johnston's " History of the 
Battle of Harlem Heights " and Mott's "" The New York of Yesterday "). In 
1798 Robert T. Kemble bought the property and in 181 1 it was acquired by 
William Rogers and was known for years as the " Ann Rogers House." It 
was struck by lightning and burned in 1859. 

Go East on Ninety-ninth Street and north on Broadway. 

12. The Bloomingdale Dutch Reformed Church, recently com- 
pleted at One Hundred and Sixth Street and Broadway, on the 
site of Nicholas Jones' stone house near which began and ended 

123 



Route i8 HISTORICAL GUIDE Weehawken 

the Battle of Harlem Heights. The church, which celebrated its 
looth anniversary in December, 1906, was incorporated as " The 
Church at Harsenville," and was founded in the Dutch mansion 
of Jacob Harsen, at Seventh Street and Amsterdam Avenue, near 
which site it stood for a century. The open space in front of 
its present location was named " Bloomingdale Square " in 1907. 

SIDE TRIP TO THE HAMILTON-BURR DUELLING 
GROUND. 

By Edward Hagaman Hall. 

Take West Forty-second Street ferry to JVeehazvken. Walk to 

the steam railroad track and then south along the shore (5 or 10 
minutes) to a little point of land projecting into the river and 
marked by a scrubby tree. The duelling ground (now blasted away) 
was on a level spot near the shore about on the line of the railroad 
track at this point. 

To see the bust of Hamilton take the trolley from the ferry 
to the top of the blufif, or mount the stairs and walk south and 
then east of the fence running along the clifif. See inclosure con- 
taining a pedestal and bust of Hamilton overlooking the scene of 
the encounter. 

An inscribed slab of the original monument (placed here in 1806 
by the St. Andrew's Society and broken because it seemed to en- 
courage duelling) is now in the New York Historical Society building. 



124 



MANHATTAN 
ROUTE 19. 

SECTION VI.— MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS AND 
MANHATTANVILLE. 
One Hundred and Tenth Street to One Hundred and Thirty-fifth 

Street. 

(Figures refer to Plate XXIV; see also XXVI and XXX.) 

Take Broadway Suhzvay to Cathedral Parkway; see to the east the 

partially completed Cathedral of St. John the Divine; 

walk west to Riverside Drive, then north to the 

1. Carrigan House. The original Nicholas de Peyster House 
stood at One Hundred and Fourteenth Street and Riverside Drive 
and was the terminus of the Bloomingdale Road as fixed by the 
Law of 1703. It burned down in 1835. The property was sold to 
Andrew Carrigan, President of the Emigrant Industrial Savings 
Bank, who built the present house. 

Go east on One hundred and Fourteenth Street and north on Broad- 
way, passing 
Buildings of the old Bloomingdale Asylum, one in the South Field 
of Columbia University and another, now the Columbia Faculty 
Building, northeast corner of One Hundred and Sixteenth Street 
and Broadway. 

2. Tablet, erected by the Sons of the Revolution, on the En- 
gineering Building (near One Hundred and Seventeenth Street). 
Columbia University, marking part of a site of the Battle of 
Harlem Heights, September 16, 1776. On the west side of Broad- 
way, just south of Barnard College, was the wheat field where 
the main action was fought. 

See also memorial window for the battle placed in St. Luke's 
Home for Aged Women at One Hundred and Fourteenth Street 
and Broadway by the New York State Society of the Daughters 
of the Revolution. 

Go east on One Hundred and Sixteenth Street. 

3. Columbia Library, the gift of Seth Low. See inscription on 
the pediment to commemorate the foundation of King's College, 
which stood at College Place and Murray Street. Within may 
be seen the iron crown formerly in King's College and a collec- 
tion of early diplomas with signatures of former presidents. 

On the opposite side of One Hundred and Sixteenth Street, in 
the quadrangle formed by Hamilton Hall and the Hartley Dor- 
mitory, see the statue of Hamilton by Ordvvay Partridge. 

125 



Route 19 HISTORICAL GUIDE Morningside 

Go north on Amsterdam Avenue. 

4. Tablet on southeast corner of Fayerweather Hall of Col- 
umbia University, on Amsterdam Avenue, facing One Hundred and 
Seventeenth Street, erected by the Empire State Society Daughters 
of 1812 on February 22, 1900, to commemorate New York City 
defences during the War of 1812. " Fort Haight " mentioned thereon 
should read '' Fort Laight," being so named in honor of Edward W. 
Laight, Commander of the Regiment of City Infantry, 1814. General 
Garrit Hopper Striker, whose name is inscribed on this memorial, 
served as Captain of the 4th Company, 5th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 
which regiment was the last employed in erecting the defences on 
Bloomingdale Heights. The original plan was to place the tablet 
on Block House No. i in Central Park, near which defence Captain 
Striker's command was stationed, but owing to the isolated position 
of the tower, and the likelihood of the memorial being hidden from 
view by foliage, the offer of the Trustees of Columbia to have it 
affixed to Fayerweather Hall was accepted. 

Note the squatter's cabin opposite, near One Hundred and Six- 
teenth Street. 

Pass on the left Teachers' College. 

5. Block House No. 3, War of 1812, in Morningside Park, at 
One Hundred and Twelity-third Street, marked in 1904 by a tablet 
erected by the Women's Auxiliary to the American Scenic and His- 
toric Preservation Society. 

The little height just south formed part of Fort Horn, named 
for Major Joseph Horn, under whose immediate direction the works 
at McGown's Pass were erected (Excursion IV, Section I, 22, 25). 

6. Point of Rocks was the high ground at One Hundred and Twenty-sixth 
Street and Convent Avenue, and the site of the most advanced southerly Amer- 
ican military outworks on Washington Heights. Another redoubt stood on the 
hill now at One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Street, between Broadway and River- 
side Drive. From the Point of Rocks Washington directed and watched the 
Battle of Harlem Heights. The rocks have been blasted away. 

Day's Tavern, where Washington stayed on his advance to the evacuation 
of New York in 1783, was on One Hundred and Sixth Street, 200 fe^t west of 
Eighth Avenue. 

Go west on One Hundred and Tzventy-second Street, passing, on the 

left, the neiv buildings of Union Theological Seminary. 

7. Grant's Tomb; designed by John H. Duncan; corner-stone 
laid by President Harrison, 1892, completed 1897, at a cost of $600,000, 
subscribed chiefly by the people of New York City ; within are the 
sarcophagi of General U. S. Grant and his wife. The interior deco- 
ration is by J. Massey Rhind. See the battle flags of the Civil War 

126 



Heights MANHATTAN 19 Route 

and numerous memorials. It is controlled by the Grant Monument 
Association. 

North of the tomb are trees planted by Li Hung Chang and a 
tablet to commemorate his esteem for General Grant. Souvenir 
History to be obtained from the custodian. 

Go north along Riverside Drive. 

8. Tomb of "An Amiable Child" (St. Claire Pollock, baptized 
by Bishop Moore, November 11, 1792), buried here in 1797. It is 
said that the child lost its life by falling over a cliff near this spot. 
In 1796-8 George Pollock, probably the uncle of the child, bought this 
property, then known as " Strawberry Hill " or " Vandewater 
Heights," from Nicholas de Peyster, and when he sold part of it to 
Cornelia Verplanck, he reserved the burial plot which, on his return 
to Ireland in iSoo. he deeded to her to preserve. 

9. The Claremont, owned by the city and a public restaurant 
since 1872, was built shortly after the Revolution by Michael Hogan, 
at one time British Consul at Havana, and named after the royal 
residence at Surrey of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, afterward 
King William IV, with whom Hogan had served as fellow midship- 
man in the Royal Navy and who visited him at his town house in 
Greenwich Street in 1782. Lord Viscount Courtenay, afterward Earl 
of Devon, occupied the house and from it in 1807 viewed the trial 
trip of Fulton's steamship, the " Clermont." In 1815 it became the 
abode of Joseph Bonaparte. The Post family purchased the property 
in 182 1. 

10. View of the Palisades and Fort Washington Point from 
the Viaduct which was built to connect Riverside Drive with Wash- 
ington Heights. The valley between was known in Dutch days as 
" The Clove of the Kill," or " Matje David's Vly " (the Widow 
David's Meadow). During the Revolution it was called the " Hol- 
low Way," and the settlement in the valley between One Hundred 
and Twenty-fifth and One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Streets was 
known as Manhattanville. A rude ferry to Fort Lee was estab- 
lished before the Revolution. 

Descend to Manhattan Street and go east to Subway. 



127 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




MANHATTAN 



BATTLE OF HARLEM HEIGHTS. 

By Hopper Striker Mott. 

This, the only contest of the Revolution within the limits of New York City 
that resulted in a victory for the Americans, had a greater influence on the 
result than is generally acknowledged. Washington's army had been disastrously 
worsted on Long Island and was in flight when this success clinched the dogged 
determination which made possible the brilliant exploits at Trenton and 
Princeton. 

The Americans, on abandoning Long Island, had withdrawn up the Island of 
IManhattan, time for the retreat being gained through the instrumentality of 
!Mary Lindley Murray (Section I\':i and introductory note). During the de- 
lay, Putnam and his command, in their straggling retreat along the Blooming- 
dale Road, had passed in safety to within a mile of the Morris House where 
Washington had his headquarters. When the British realized that the patriots 
had joined the main army, they encamped that night along the New Cross 
Road (Apthorp Lane), Sir Henry Clinton taking possession of the Apthorp 
Mansion, and threw up fortifications just north, extending across the island 
from Hoorn's Hoek to Striker's Bay. Earl Cornwallis was in command of the 
Reserve, while other generals led the English, Scotch and Hessians. 

The first line of works thrown up by the Americans was located about One 
Hundred and Forty Seventh Street (Excursion IV, Section II: i) and the hill 
as far south as " The Hollow Way," the valley through which Manhattan Street 
now passes, was occupied by them. Generally, these were the positions of the 
two forces on September i6, 1776. On that morning, Colonel Thomas Knowlton. 
who had seen service at Lexington, Bunker Hill and Long Island, was directed 
by Washington to make a reconnoissance of the enemy's position. Moving 
southward with his Connecticut Rangers along the westerly side near the Hud- 
son, they were screened from view by the woods covering Hooglandt's farm. 
It was not until they readied Nicholas Jones' farmhouse about sunrise that 
the British pickets, light infantrymen, were encountered. Evidently stationed 
on the Bloomingdale Road at about One Hundred and Fourth Street, their 
regiments were encamped a short distance to the south. During the brisk skir- 
mish which now took place, the woods along the dividing line between the Jones 
and Hooglandt farms echoed the sharp firing from both sides. The forces were 
so disproportioned as to numbers, ana the object of the movement had been so 
far attained that Knowlton ordered a retreat, which was effected without con- 
fusion. He had, however, ten killed in action. They fell back along the line 
of the Road, closely pursued. The enemy halted at the elevation known as 
'* Claremont," from which point they could catch glimpses of General Greene's 
troops on the opposite slopes. 

This was the third time within a month that the British had scattered or driven 
Washington's men with ease, and it only remained on this occasion for their 
bugler to sound the contemptuous notes of tlie hunt across the Hollow into the 
American lines. To quote one of the latter's officers: "The enemy appeared 
in open view and in the most insulting manner sounded their bugle horns as 
is usual after a fox-chase; I never felt such a sensation before — it seemed to 
crown our disgrace." Washington had gone down to the advanced position and 
heard the firing. He was urged to reinforce the Rangers, but was not im- 
mediately persuaded of the advisability of forcing the fighting. Eventually, he 
determined on a strategical plan, viz: to make a feint in front of the hill and 
induce the enemy to advance into the Hollow, and second, should this prove 
eflfective, to send a strong detachment circuitously around their right flank to 
the rear and hem them in. This plan succeeded in so far that the enemy, see- 
ing the advance, promptly accepted battle, " ran down the hill and took posses- 
sion of some fences and bushes," from which vantage a smart fire was begun, 
but at too great a distance to do much execution. The flanking party, composed 
of Knowlton's Rangers, now back at the lines, was reinforced with three 
companies of riflemen from the Third Virginia Regiment under -Major Andrew 
Leitch. In some unlucky manner the attack was premature " as it was rather 
in flank than in rear." Both the brave leaders fell in this engagement, Knowl- 
ton living but an hour. _ Leitch survived until October ^nd, wlien he died at a 
little blacksmith's shop in the neighborhood of the present _ One Hundred and 
Twentv-ninth Street. Nothing daunted by the loss of their commanders, the 
Rangers and Riflemen pressed on. The British, who had been inveigled into 

129 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

the Hollow Way, had in the meantime been put to flight by the use of artillery, 
and were pursued back towards their camp along the line of the Koad to a 
buckwheat field on top of a high hill. Heretofore the manituvring had taken 
place largely on the Hooglandt farm; the main action was then transferred to 
\'an de Water's Heights. 

The general limits of this *' hot contest " were the high ground extending 
from Columbia University around westward and northerly to Grant's Tomb 
and Ciaremont. The fighting grew into a pitched battle, lasting from noon 
until about two o'clock. Nearly 1800 .\mericans were engaged, composed of 
commands representing New England, Maryland and N'irginia, with volunteers 
from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

The enemy finally retreated, followed in close pursuit, and the day was won. 
The route crossed an orchard just north of One Hundred and Eleventh Street 
and terminated in the vicinity of Jones' House, where Knowlton first found 
them in the early morning. It was considered prudent to withdraw, and late in 
the afternoon the troops returned to camp, rejoicing in a success they had not 
anticipated. It is estimated that about 30 men were killed and not over 100 
wounded and missing. A total British loss of 171 was reported. This action 
put new courage into the patriots and exerted a wide influence over subsequent 
events. 

The above account of the battle follows that of Henry P. Johnston, Professor 
of History in the College of the City of New York. 

LANDMARKS OF THE BATTLE-FIELD. 

, The Apthorp Mansion, where Washington waited until his little army of 
3500 men, none of whom had breakfasted or slept, had passed in retreat from 
the oncoming enemy, following them to the Roger Morris House (Jumel Man- 
sion) at One Hundred and Sixty-second Street, his headquarters until after the 
battle (Excursion I\', Section II). When Howe took possession of the Apthorp 
House it was whispered about that he was made welcome there, and when the 
war was over Apthorp was included in the list of persons suspected of being 
Tory sympathizers. Although indicted for treason, he was never tried for his 
alleged crime. Property which he owned in Massachusetts in connection with 
his brother was confiscated, but his New York realty was left untouched. 
(Section Viy). 

Van de Water Heights, owned by Herman van de Water, stretched between 
One Hundred and Sixth and One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Streets, and in- 
cluded a part of present Morningside Park. These Heights were a portion of 
the De Key tract and were bounded south by the land of Theunis Eideyse van 
Huyse, and east by Harl'em Commons. \'an de Water and Adriaen Hooglandt 
purchased one-half of the tract from de'Key in i7'38. 

The Houses of Humphrey Jones, his son Nicholas Jones and the Striker Man- 
sion are described in Section V:8, 11, 12. 



I3-) 



MANHATTAN 

SIDE TRIP TO FORT LEE. 

By Edward Hagaman Hall. 

Take Fort Lee Ferry from West One Hundred and Thirtieth Street, 
and the trolley up the Palisades to Fort Lee Village. 

The site of the fort is on the bliifif bounded by Cedar and English 
Streets and Parker Avenue. In the woods southwest of the pond 
(now dry) and of the church, may be seen some remains of the 
fireplaces or chimneys of the huts of the American troops, and west 
of these the zig-zag line of breastworks can be traced. 

Washington's Well is northeast of the church (east of Parker 
Avenue), and still further east is a huge flat stone which was 
utilized for the bottom of a soldier's bread oven. Traces of re- 
doubts are visible on the crest of the Palisades east of the fort, 
and another redoubt some distance north was used to protect the 
sunken obstructions between Jeffreys Hook or Fort Washington Point 
and the Jersey shore at this point of the river. 



131 




Plate XXV. Route 20. 
132 



C. K, 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE 20. 

SECTION VII.— KIP'S BAY TO HORN'S HOOK; THE EAST 
RIVER ISLANDS. 

Corrected with the aid of Frank Warren Crane. 

(Figures refer to Plate XXV). 

Thirty-fourth Street to One Hundredth Street, east of Fifth Avenue. 

Kip's Bay indented the eastern shore of Manhattan at Thirty-fourth Street 
where now are the ferry slips. Near by, on the east side of Second Avenue 
between Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Streets stood until 185 1 *the Farm- 
house of Jacob Kip where, in 1655, he brought his young wife, Marie de la 
Montague. Here also the British landed on September 15, 1776, when they 
captured the Island of Manhattan. 

Turtle Bay is a rocky cove at about Forty-fifth Street on the shore of 
which stood an old storehouse where the British kept military supplies. These 
were captured in 1773 by a band of Liberty Boys under John Lamb and Mari- 
nus Willett. Fortifications occupied this spot during the two wars with Eng- 
land. 

Artillery Park was at Forty-fifth Street and First Avenue where Nathan 
Hate was executed. 

Cannon Point was the name given to the projection into the East River of 
East 55th Street. From this point may be obtained a good view of the 
dangerous rocks and eddies of the East River and of the south end of Black- 
w\?irs Island. 

The river shore is as bold and rocky as it was in the early days, the swift 
current of the East River making it difficult to utilize this portion of Man- 
hattan for docks. 

The old Post Road after leaving Madison Square and crossing Third Avenue 
between Forty-second and Forty-third Streets, ran to Second Avenue, crossing 
it at Fifty-second Street (at Cato's Road House) and again at Sixty-third 
Street. It crossed Third Avenue at Sixty-fifth and Seventy-seventh Streets and 
Fourth Avenue at Eighty-fifth Street, and thence ran through Central Park to 
Harlem, its west branch joining the Bloomingdale Road. 

The 4TH Milestone is at Third Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street, and the 
STH Milestone just one mile north, at Seventy-seventh Street (see Appendix: 
Milestones and Post Roads). 

Odelh'ille was the name applied to a hamlet of sixty years ago lying in the 
region of Third Avenue and Forty-ninth Street. From it a long lane led to 
the country house of Horace Greeley on tlie East River shore. 

Yorkville was a village on the old Post Road between Eighty-third and Eighty- 
ninth Streets, Fourth and Second Avenues, by some so considered from Fifty- 
ninth to One Hundredth Street, the old Hell Gate ferry being then at the 
foot of Eighty-sixth Street. Seventy-fourth Street was the south boundary of 
the old *' Town of Harlem." 

Take Second Avenue Elevated R. R. to Fiftieth Street and walk east 
to First Avenue. 

1. Site of the Beekman House on Beekman Hill, between Fifty-first and Fifty- 
second Streets west of First Avenue, where P. S. 135 now stands. The house 
was built in 1763 by Wm. Beekman and became the headquarters of Howe, (Clin- 
ton and Carleton. In a greenhouse on the grounds Hale was tried as a spy and 
here Andre received his final instructions before going north to meet Arnold. 
The house was torn down in 1874, but one of its mantels and some of the Dutch 
Scripture titles may be seen in the New York Historical Society Building. 
Note the steep incline leading up to Beekman Hill. 

2. Beekman Place, between Forty-ninth and Fifty-first Street, 
near the river, preserve the historic name. Note the view of the 
East River here. 

133 



Route 20 HISTORICAL GUIDE Kip's Bay to 

Go north to Fifty-third Street and east to the 

3. Shot Tower, built by Mr. Youle in 1821 (succeeding the old 
tower of Revolutionary days) and used during the Civil War. 
Nearby stood until recently the De Voor Farmhouse, built about 200 
years ago, at the foot of East Fifty-third Street. The Spring Valley 
Farm was granted in 1677 by Governor Andros to David DufFore 
or De Voor. It was later called the Odell, Arden or Brevoort es- 
tate. It was a good example of substantial Dutch architecture and 
one of the oldest buildings in the city when destroyed. De Voor's 
Mill Stream, the Saw Kill or Saw Mill Creek, ran from the high 
ground of upper Central Park, being crossed at Seventy-seventh and 
Fifty-second Streets by two " Kissing Bridges." 

4. The Brevoortr House at 415 East Fifty-fourth Street is of 
Dutch architecture but much later than the De Voor House (af- 
ter 1800). It was a country residence of the Brevoort family, 
though not the original homestead. 

Go north on Avenue A tinder the new Queensboro Bridge. 

5. Smith's Folly, a quaint old house near the terminal of the 
new Queensboro Bridge, 421 East Sixty-first Street. It was built 
for a stable in 1799 (see date on rear wall) by Colonel Wm. 
S. Smith, son-in-law of President John Adams. After Smith's 
failure it was used as a tavern until 1830, wh'^n it was bought by 
Jeremiah Towle, City Surveyor, and until 1906 was occupied by his 
daughters. Across the street are two old residences, one occupied 
by the Female Guardian Society Industrial School. 

6. The Schermerhorn Farmhouse, built 1747, at the foot of 
East Sixty-fourth Street was a summer home of Governor George 
Clinton. It is now used in connection with the new buildings of 
the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, the erection of which 
obliterated the Jones Chapel and an old graveyard where were buried 
members of the Jones, Hardenbrook and Adams families. 

Jones' Wood, north of Seventieth Street, was part of the 90-acre farm (from 
Sixty-sixth to Seventy-fifth Streets) originally owned by the Provoost family. 
Samuel Provoost became the first Bishop of New York and was President of 
Columbia College. Ilis cousin, David Provoost, was a Revolutionary soldier 
who became a smuggler (" Ready Money Provoost ") and hid his ill-gotten 
gains in the *' Smugglers' Cave" on the shore of this farm, or in a cave at 
Hallet's Point, Astoria. The old Provoost family vault disappeared in 1858 
from the foot of East Seventy-first Street. The Jones family acquired this 
property about 1803 and later Jones' Wood became a popular picnic resort. 
It was chosen as the site for a large city park for which was substituted the 
land covered by the present Central Park. 

Go -west on Sixty-eighth Street. 
134 



Horn's Hook MANHATTAN 20 Route 

7. Monument in the German Reformed Church, Sixty-eighth 
Street, between First and Second Avenues, erected by the church 
in memory of Baron Steuben, an active member of the church of 
which J. J. Astor was elder, clerk and treasurer about 1800. The 
church was organized in 1758 and erected its first edifice on Nassau 
Street between Maiden Lane and John Street. In 1822 it moved 
to Forsyth Street, in 1861 to the corner of Norfolk and Stanton 
Streets, and in 1897 to the present location. On the occasion of the 
150th anniversary of the church (1908) the bell now used was 
presented to the congregation by the German Emperor. 

Take First Avenue car to Eighty-sixth Street and go east to East 

River Park. 

8. The Grade House in East River Park near Eighty-eighth 
Street stands on what was known in early days as Horn's 
Hook (its first owner, Siebert Classen, coming from Hoorn, Hol- 
land), and later as Rhinelander's or Observation Point, where bat- 
teries were placed during the two wars with England. The house 
was built by Archibald Gracie about 1813 and Washington Irving 
was a frequent visitor here and at the John Jacob Astor residence 
which stood just south near the present Eighty-sixth Street and 
Avenue A. Some of the trees in the park were sent from China and 
Japan. 

Note view of the upper end of Blackwell's Island, Mill Rock, 
Hell Gate and Ward's Island (see article below on East River 
Islands). 

9. Site of the Yalless Hopper House, on the west side of Second Avenue be- 
tween Eighty-third and Eighty-fovirth Streets, until 1855. It was a quaint stone 
structure built by Benjamin Waldron, whose daughter Elizabeth married Hopper 
in 1759 and passed into his possession on the death of his father-in-law in 
1782. Its sides were indented with shots from British ships during the attack 
at Hoorn's Neck. An advertisement offering for sale the farm of Adolph 
Waldron in 1786 states that a ferry had long been established to Hallet's Cove 
on Long Island, 

Go west on Ninetieth Street, passing 

10. The Prime House (best seen from Ninetieth Street be- 
tween Avenue A and First Avenue), now one of the buildings of 
St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum; some of its old fireplaces and mantels 
are preserved and from its upper balcony is obtained a fine view of 
Hell Gate. Nathaniel Prime, a merchant prince, had his town house 
at No. I Broadway. He built the uptown house in 1800. 

Go north on Park Avenue to 

11. The Winfield Scott Mansion, at Park Avenue and Ninety- 
third Street (northwest corner), erected in 1847 and now used as 
5.n academy by the Ursuline Sisters. 

135 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



THE EAST RIVER ISLANDS. 

Near the turbulent waters of Hell Gate is a group of three islands 
covered with vast buildings of stone or brick where the poor, the 
sick and the insane of the city, as well as the offenders against law 
and order, are cared for by the Departments of Charities and Cor- 
rection. 

Blackwell's Island, called in Indian days Minnahanonck or Long 
Island, and, later. Manning's Island, was granted to Captain John 
Manning, Sheriff of New York County, in 1664. Because of his dis- 
graceful surrender of the city to the Dutch in 1673, his sword was 
broken and he spent some years in retirement in his " castle " on the 
island. He left it to his step-daughter, who married Robert Black- 
well. In 1828 the city bought it for $50,000. Most of the buildings 
are of granite dressed on the island and built by convict labor. 
Around the island are heavy granite sea walls. 

Passes may be obtained from the Departments of Charities and 
Correction. 

Hell Gate is the channel between Astoria, Manhattan, Ward's 
and Blackwell's Islands, at the junction of the Harlem and East 
Rivers. Mr. Edward Hagaman Hall learned that " Hell Gate " is a 
name in use in Holland where it is spelled HcUc-gat and is ap- 
plied to a difficult water passage between the Volkerak and Holland 
Diep, on the much-traveled waterway between Antwerp and Rotter- 
dam, the name being used in the same sense as the English translation 
'* Hell Gate." The efforts to derive the name from an ancient root 
meaning "beautiful" or "clear." have no foundation in fact. 

Owing to hidden rocks and conflicting tides, the strait is yet dan- 
gerous for navigation, although many rocks have been removed 
by the government. The great work of exploding these reefs was 
begun in 1869-76 and completed in 1885. Among its features are Pot 
Rock, the Devil's Frying Pan, Flood Rock, Hog's Back, Nigger Head 
and Gridiron. A description of the strait is given in the Labadist 
Journal. Mill Rock, or Leland's Island, opposite Ninety-third 
Street, used to be known as " Sandy Gibson's," a favorite stopping 
place for fishermen. Here, in 1812, a blockhouse was built for the 
defence of the city. 

136 



East River MANHATTAN Islands 

Ward's Island (also called Great Barent, Barn or Buchanan's 
Island) was bought from the Indians by Van Twiller and used 
by him as a pasture. In 1776 it was occupied by the British who 
established a camp here. After the Revolution two brothers, 
Jasper and Bartholomew Ward, bought it and divided it into 
farms. In 1812 a cotton mill was built and a bridge which con- 
nected the island with One Hundred and Fourteenth Street. 
In 1840 it became the Potter's Field, 100,000 bodies being brought 
here from Bryant Park (see Section IV). 

4. Little Hell Gate is the strait which divides Ward's Island 
on the north from 

Randall's Island (Belle Isle, Little Barent or Montresor's 
Island), which has had many owners since the English ceded it 
to Thos. Delavall, an early collector of customs. Among the 
owners was Captain James Montresor, who lived here during 
the Revolution. Here, in 1776, 250 Americans were defeated in 
an attempt to capture a British force. Jonathan Randall bought 
the island in 1784 and in 1835 sold it to the city for $50,000. 
A pass to visit the House of Refuge may be secured from the 
Department of Charities. 

North and South Brother's, Riker's, City, Hart's, Hunter's and 
Twin Islands are described in Excursion IX. 



IZ7 



NOTES 



138 



NOTES 



139 



NOTES 



140 



EXCURSION IV— CENTRAL PARK TO KINGSBRIDGE. 

From One Hundred and Fourth Street to Two Hundred and 
Thirtieth Street. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley, 

Corrected 1906 and 1909 with the aid of Reginald Pelham BoUon. 

Copyright 1897, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XXVI. Map of McGown's Pass and Vicinity in 1776. With 
Location of Some More Modern Sites. 

Drawn by Edward Ilagaman Hall, from whom prints of original 1 1 inches 
square can be obtained. Reproduced by permission. 

Division marks in margins represent projection of center lines of streets and 
avenues. Sites and topographical features are carefully located with refer- 
ence to these lines. 

For complete key to above map see " McGowan's Pass and Vicinity," by 
Edward Hagaman Hall. 



142 



MANHATTAN 



Index 



1. American Battery, 1776, whence Washington watched Battle of 

Harlem Heights. 

2. American Battery, 1776. 

3. Matje David's Vly, 1776. 

Ground embraced between 4, 8, 14, and 15 was battlefield of Har- 
lem Heights; eastern portion now called Morningside Heights. 

4. Claremont Restaurant. 

5. Grant's Tomb. 

6. Barrier Gate, 1814. 

7. Fort Laight, 1814. 

8. Blockhouse No. 4, 1814. 

9. Block House No. 3, 1814. 

10. Barnard College ; bloody buckwheat field, September 16, 1776. 

11. Columbia University. 

12. St. Luke's Hospital. 

13. Block House No. 2, 1814. 

14. Cathedral of St. John the Divine. 

15. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, British fortifications erected 1776; 20 

is on the great Hill (the Circle) in Central Park; 22 is also 
site of Fort Clinton, 1814; 23 is also site of Nutter's Battery, 1814. 

24. Fort Fish, 1814. 

25. Block House No. i, 1814. 

26. British redoubt, 1776; Benson's Point redoubt, 1814. 

27. Mill Rock Block House, 1814. 

28. American redoubt, evacuated September 15, 1776. 

29. Now Mt. Morris Park. 



143 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

CENTRAL PARK TO KINGSBRIDGE 
Bibliography. 

" Harlem, Its Origin and Early Annals," Jas. Riker. 

" New Harlem, Past and Present," Toler and Nutting. 

" History of the War of 1812," R. S. Guernsey. 

"Field Book of the American Revolution," Vol. II, Lossing. 

" McGown's Pass " (American Scenic and Historic Preservation 
Society), E. H. Hall. 

Lives of Alexander Hamilton, John James Audubon, General Na- 
thaniel Greene and Washington. 

" Washington's Headquarters," published by the American and 
Scenic Preservation Society. 

"The Assault and Capture of Mt. Washington," R. P. Bolton 
(Empire State Society, Sons of the American Revolution). 

"Transactions of the Long Island Historical Society," Vol. HI. 

Holyrood Parish Magazine, articles by R. P. Bolton. Astor and 
Lenox Libraries. 

Magazine of American History, Vol. VI. 

"The Diary of Lieutenant Charles Philip von Krafft " (New York 
Historical Society). 

" The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn," John- 
ston. 

"Force's American Archives," Vol. II, Series V. 

" Memoirs of Alexander Graydon," 1832 and 1846. 

" History of Attacks on New York," Stedman. 

" 1776, or the War of Independence," Lossing. 

"The History of the County of Westchester," Rev. Robert Bolton. 

"History of Kingsbridge," Thomas Edsall. 

" History of Westchester County," Shonnard. 

Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation 
Society, 1905. 



144 



MANHATTAN 

SECTION L— UPPER CENTRAL PARK, MOUNT MORRIS 

PARK AND THE VILLAGE OF NIEUW HAERLEM. 

(Figures refer to Plate XXVI.) 

ROUTE 21. 

A. NORTHERN CENTRAL PARK. 

Enter the Park from Fifth Avenue and One Hundred and Second 
Street at the Girls' Gate and follozv the East Drive; or from One 
Hundred and Tenth Street and Lenox Avenue, and walk south. 

21. McGown's Pass Tavern, on the site of the original tavern, 
bnilt by Jacob Dyckman, Jr., about 1750, sold in 1760 to the widow 
of Capt. Daniel McGown, who, with her son Andrew, kept it as a 
favorite resort for hunters with foxhounds. The old stone McGown 
house was in 1790 replaced by a frame structure, and the property 
was sold to Thos. B. Odell in 1845. He in turn sold it in 1847 to 
the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who added several 
buildings, one of which was used by the Free School Society. 
The heights were then called Mt. St. Vincent. After the act of 
1853 was passed authorizing the laying out of Central Park, from 
Fifty-ninth to One Hundred and Sixth Street (extended to One 
Hundred and Tenth Street in 1863) the Sisters moved (1858) to Mt. 
St. Vincent-on-the-Hudson (Edwin Forrest's "Font Hill"), but they 
had charge of a military hospital in the old buildings during the 
Civil War. After the war two of these were occupied as a road- 
house and an art museum respectively, but both were burned in 
1881. In 1883 the present tavern was erected on the original site 
and in 1891 the old name " McGown's (wrongly spelled McGowan's) 
Pass " restored by law. 

The old Post Road ran through this pass, branching just north, one road 
continuing to Harlem, the other, then known as Harlem Lane, running north- 
west to meet the Bloomingdale Road. Along this latter road a body of 
American troops was pursued by the British, September 15, 1776. On the fol- 
lowing day the British occupied the Pass and erected on the heights (which 
became the center of a defensive military signal system) a number of works 
which they held during the war. In 1864 traces of a Revolutionary camp 
were found at (20) the Great Hill or Circle (between West Drive and 
Eighth Avenue, opposite One Hundred and Fifth Street) where v/as located 
one of the British redoubts of 1776. On November 16, 1776, nearly 3000 
Americans captured at Fort Washington (Section III, 61), marched through the 
Pass en route for military prisons. On November 21, 1783, the British evacuated 
the works at the Pass, which were thereupon occupied by the American 
troops. 

Take path on right to top of hill above Harlem Mere. 

145 



Route 21 HISTORICAL GUIDE Central Park 

22. Remains of Fort Clinton, named for Mayor DeWitt Clin- 
ton, an American redoubt, erected in 1814 to protect the city from 
anticipated British attacks. See memorial tablet on mount of old 
cannon and mortar, erected in 1906 by the children of the City 
History Club. The earthworks, traces of which are still visible, 
were thrown up by various volunteer bodies, including Colum- 
bia students, the Society of Tammany and the Master Butchers' 
Association. This fort is on the site of a British earthwork of 
1776. 

The flat plateau east of McGown's Pass Tavern was leveled for 
(24) Fort Fish, and (23) Nutter's Battery, was 550 feet north of Fort 
Clinton and 600 feet north of Fort Fish. 

Cross East Drive and ascend hill opposite Seventh Avenue Gate, 
on the line of One Hundred and Ninth Street. 

25. Block House No. i, on the rocky bluff opposite "Warrior's 
Gate" (Seventh Avenue). This was one of four stone towers 
erected in 1814 guarding the roads from Harlem and the north. 
On the south face see the tablet erected 1905 by the Women's 
Auxiliary to the American Scenic and Historic Preservation So- 
ciety. 

From this hill, looking north to northeast, may be seen the site 
of the original village of Nieiiw Haerlem (Plate XXVH), the 
boundary between which and the City of New Amsterdam ran in a 
straight line from Seventy-fourth Street on the East River (two 
chimney stacks of the Metropolitan Railroad Powerhouse), through 
McGown's Pass, to the northeast corner of (11) Columbia University 
buildings and beyond to a point on the Hudson (3), near One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-ninth Street. All the low ground to the east 
now covered by buildings was meadow or marsh, through which, 
on the line of One Hundred and Seventh and One Hundred and 
Eighth Streets, ran the Harlem Creek. 

To the north, between Central Park and Washington Heights, lay 
Vredendal, the land of Dr. Montague, the first settler of Harlem. 



146 



MANHATTAN 



ROUTE 22. 

B— THE SITE OF THE ORIGINAL VILLAGE OF NIEUW 

HAERLEM. 

Established by Sfuyvesant in March, 1658, zvhich existed 200 years 
and is now lost to sight beneath the modern Harlem. 

By Reginald Pelham Bolton, 1909. 
Note. — So few traces of Niew Haerlem remains, that this section 
is not laid out as an itinerary, ahhough the antiquarian may find in- 
terest in identifying the sites. 

(Figures refer to Plates XXVI and XXVII). 

Indian Trail, now St. Nicholas Avenue, and once the Albany Post Road, 
also in part called Harlem Lane. This ran through the centre of Vredendal. 
The site of the homestead built by Montagne in 1636 was where it -crosses 
Seventh Avenue close to the 8th milestone. 

At right angles from the Farmer's Gate, to the northeast, another Indiari 
trail ran to the Harlem River, then called the Great Kill, which trail became 
one of the village streets. 

Vredendal, or Quiet Dale, the first Harlem settlement, was begun in 1636 
by Dr. Montagne. It was known by the Indians as Muscoota, or the Flats, and 
included the lowlands which extended north and northwest of Central Park, 
from the Farmer's Gate to, and including, Morningside Park (near 7). 

Montagne's Creek, known to the Indians as Rechewanes, in later times called 
the Mill Creek, and in modern times the Harlem Creek. The large gasometers 
at One Hundred and Seventh Street stand in the old bed of this creek, which 
extended back on lines of One Hundred and Seventh to One Hundred and 
Fourth Streets to Central park at Fifth Avenue and One Hundred and Ninth 
Street. A little stream ran into it from the neighborhood of Morningside 
Park. 

The Mill Camp, at One Hundred and Tenth Street and Fifth Avenue, was the 
site of the local grist mill, established in 1667 by Captain Delavall, with a dam 
across the creek at Third Avenue and One hundred and Tenth Street. 

29. Mount Morris Park. This hill was known as the Slang Berg, 
or Snake Hill, from the rattlers which infested it. The playground 
at the south end is a part of the Calf or Clover Pasture in which the 
settlers of Harlem had common rights. An American and, after- 
wards, a Hessian Battery was constructed on the summit in 1776 
commanding the mouth of the Harlem River. 

The Fire Tower is one of the last relics of the old Volunteer Fire 
Department; the bell was rung every evening at eight up to recent 
years, and this practice was resumed in 1909. 

30. Sylvan Place. This little secluded street occupies part of 
the old Church Lane. Note the old trees on either side. 

31. Dutch Reformed Church on One Hundred and Twenty- 
first Street, near Third Avenue. This is the fourth structure and 
stands on part of the original Town Lot from which the timber was 
cleared as long ago as 1666 by the then lessee, Nelis Matthyssen, a 

147 



Route 22 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Nieuw 




Plate XXVII. Route 22. 

Swedish builder of fences. The building used to face on Third 
Avenue, but in 1886 it was turned round to its present position. 'In 
the belfry is the original bell, cast in Holland, which once hung in 
the first church. The inscription on it reads : 

" Amsterdam Anno 1734 Me Fecit." 



This church stands near the middle of the Church Lane, or Great Way, 
alongside which the village was laid out. 

^2. The Great Way. At the corner of One Hundred and Twenty-first Street 

148 



Haerlem MANHATTAN ^'^ K°»t« 

and TMrd Avenue Is a .riangular •'Ouse the an^lar side of whk^^^shows rte 
Se of the old Church Lane On_^Jhe northeast corn^er^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^,. 

£:£"'^lie?e, ^a'^"'k 'Se t/a^es.-Ihe 'S^n '"/ohf.e. were p.Ce.ed in 

•'%: Verr.e,en's Firs, F-'^ '°,*=„/¥wJn.;Kx."'s'.ret'\nd ^i,f A "enn'e^ 
„o?fheast corner of One Hundred and ^^^^^J^\„i Twenty-fifth Street and 

,& S«nt= -s'^h^toJ^of ?L«ser or Kff S/^,' L^ntt ?arJf 
oi Su"n=d?e'd"\'^^ Vten"5Sf°h' lir'^k^st^' t£ ^^.(»»/ ^-^'. CHur.K hu... 
■"3^^'^an Firs. Avenue, a. .he south side of One Hundred and Twenty-fif.h 
Street, stood the second Onlch Clmrch. j^ Avenue passes 

Noe that One Hundred and Twenty-hitth street to Blessing, known 

through the Indian Sf*.™).".., the Dutch f/Z/J-Zf-.^,' settled, 'before the village 
^=a"s"&e1 ^r;"Spt^rn"?o'chie,r'"pie!ersen"'kuyter, a Danish gentleman, who 
"%"XY'li^s1 A^vem,! rnd"0ne'"H;nrred and Twenty-fourth Street, the avenue 
-t''Te'twe;'nXe°'4u^3?:TaI"\en*th and one Hun^^^^^^^ 
i'-i- h'er^ o-f'-S^ncoUefeTa^row^J^r^^ in tSsS. .nd.cat.ng 

long occupation and a place of "^^""f^^^^'^^U margin of the meadt)w lands, 
Pleasant Avcnue^ ^^^^"^tv, ^'°r^ jtLf and to X Dutch as the Otterspoor, 
known to the Indians as the ^ny^^^A^^*^ a"d to tne ^^^.^ t^^^t^^' 

from the numerous otters with which these DanKS ^^^^^^,^^ purchased by 

granted to the Jonkheer J^^o^^^^ J^" ^Vs as Van Keulen's Hook. ^.^ ^ „^ ^ 
Van Keulen and known for many years as van ^^ ^ ^ ^^^ Fifth Street 
^Montague's Point, Pleasant Avenue |"^d 2^^^,^o" the Great Sands Here, 
{T^l,^^' MoSn^e la'Sd^S''?r"oV\£^t?out .ith his family and farm 
"-It^. trr fht-- ^gowerho.. of the Metropc,litan^ Com- 



140 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




150 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE 23. 
SECTION II— HAMILTON GRANGE TO FORT GEORGE. 
West One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Street to Dyckman Street. 
(Figures refer to Plates XXVIII, XXIX and XXXI; see also XXX.) 
Take Broadzvay Stibzvay to One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Street; 
walk north on Hamilton Place to One Hundred and Thirty- 
ninth Street and north on Convent Avenue, passing 
The new buildings of the College of the City of New York 
(here Historical Museum may be visited). Hamilton Place oc- 
cupies the line of Old Broadway, the old Bloomingdale Road, 
which led from Morningside Heights over to the Post Road at 
One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street. 

41. Hamilton Grange, One Hundred and Forty-first Street and 
Convent Avenue, next to St. Luke's Church, formerly stood on 
the west side of the avenue, between One Hundred and Forty- 
second and One Hundred and Forty-third Streets. It was oc- 
cupied by Alexander Hamilton as a country seat (1802-4) and 
named " The Grange " for his ancestral home. See the tablet 
erected in 1908 by the Washington Heights Chapter Daughters of 
the American Revolution on the porch of the house and an early 
engraving of Hamilton in the vestry room of the church. 

The Thirteen (liquid amber) Trees, said to have been planted by 
Hamilton in honor of the thirteen States, were between One Hun- 
dred and Forty-second and One Hundred and Forty-third Streets, 
about 50 feet west of Convent Avenue ; all are now destroyed. 
Go east to St. Nicholas Avenue and north to One Hundred and Fifty- 
second Street. 

St. Nicholas Avenue runs a little west of the original King's Way or Al- 
bany Post Road. " Breakneck Hill " was part of the old road at about One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Street. 

American Intrenchment No. i, at One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street was 
constructed across the Heights in September, 1776. It was used in the fight 
with British frigates on Sunday, October 2y, and again in the defense of the 
Heights on November 16, 1776. 

A tablet in the park space. One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Street and Broadway, erected by the Washington Heights Chap- 
ter, Daughters of the American Revolution, marks the line of this 
intrenchment. 

At One Hundred and Fifty-second Street, on the west side, stood until i88t 
the farmhouse of Jan Dyckman, grandson of the original Harlem settler of 
the name. 

Go west on One Hundred and Fifty-second Street to Broadway. 

42. The Ninth Milestone, with date 1769, stands in a private 
garden on the north side of One Hundred and Fifty-second 
Street, between St. Nicholas and Amsterdam Avenues. 

151 



Route 23 



HISTORICAL GUIDE Trinity Cemetery 



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Plate XXVIII. Route 23. 

Go north on Broadway. 

43. Tablet, erected by the Sons of the Revolution in the wall 
of Trinity Cemetery, northwest corner of Broadway and One Hun- 
^dred and Fifty-third Street, to commemorate the fighting at this 
place in the assault on Fort Washington and marking the second 
line of its southern defences. 

The high mounds at One Hundred and Fifty-third Street, within 
the Cemetery, were crowned with American redoubts. 

Trinity Cemetery, within which may be seen the tombs of Gen- 
eral Dix, Philip Livingston, J. J. Astor, Stephen Jumel and other 
distinguished men ; also a cenotaph to President Monroe, whose body 
was removed to Virginia in 1858. The monument to Audubon is 
visible through the gateway on One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, 
between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. 

One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street was the extreme northerly 
limit of the plan of the city as laid down by the Commissioners of 
1807. 

152 



Washington's H'dqrs MANHATTAN 23 Route 

44. Minniesland, the home of John James Audubon, can be 
seen from Riverside Drive on the Hne of One Hundred and Fifty- 
sixth Street, near the river, in Audubon Park. The whole tract 
from Amsterdam Avenue to the river was the property of Auduboij. 
The house was buih in 1841 and the mansard roof added in 1864. 
Audubon Hved here till his death, January 27, 185 1. It is said that 
in the laundry of this house the first telegraphic message was re- 
ceived from Philadelphia on an instrument set up by S. F. B. Morse. 

45. Museum of the Hispanic Society of America, at One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-sixth Street and Broadway, donated in 1904 by 
Archer M. Huntington. It contains a library of uoohs and manu- 
scripts, and a collection of objects of art and historical interest, as- 
sociated with Spanish history and art. 

46. The Museum of the Numismatic Society (west of 45) con- 
tains a fine collection of coins and medals of general historical in- 
terest. 

Go east to Broadzvay and north to One Hundred and Fifty-ninth 

Street. 

A TABLET at One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Street and Broadway, erected by 
the Washington Heights Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, marks 
the third line of intrenchments across the island. 

Go east to Edgecombe Avenue, or on One Hundred and Sixtieth 
Street to Jumel Place. 

47. Washington's Headquarters, the Roger Morris or Jumel 
Mansion, One Hundred and Sixtieth to One Hundred and Sixty- 
second Streets, between Edgecombe Avenue and Jumel Place, opened 
to the public in 1907 as a Revolutionary and Colonial Museum, under 
the care of the Washington's Fleadquarters Association of New 
York and the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

For full account of the Mansion see p. 156. 

The cannon on the lawn is a Parrott Gun of the Civil War 
period. 

North of the mansion, on One Hundred and Sixty-second Street, 
near Edgecombe Avenue is a rock on which it is said that FitzGreene 
Halleck composed " Marco Bozzaris." 

Go north on St. Nicholas Avenue. 

48. Site of the Cross Keys Tavern, or Morris's White House, on the east side 
of the Albany Post Road (now St. Nicholas Avenue) at One Hundred, and 
Sixty-fifth Street. It is said that here Colonel Knowlton's body was brought 
September 15, 1776. The head of the leaden statue of Oora:e III (erected in 
Bowling Green) was brought here, and later was stolen by Cox, the Tory inn- 
keeper, and buried at Kingsbridge until the arrival of the British troops, when 
it was sent to England. 



Route 23 HISTORICAL GUIDE High Bridge 

Walk north on Broadzi'ay. 

49. Site of the Bradley Farmhouse (1800), between One Hundred and 
Sixty-eighth and One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Streets, west of Broadway. 
This was the site of a camp of Americans in 1776, and later of Hessians, to 
1782. Numerous remains of camp fireplaces, with military objects were found 
here when streets were opened through the farm. 

Note on the west side, between One Hundred and Seventy-first and One 
Hundred and Seventy-Second Streets, part of a fine avenue of sycamores which 
formerly led to an old mansion overlooking the Hudson and known as the 
French Academy. Where One Hundred and Seventy-first Street is cut through 
rocks west of Fort Washington Avenue were traces of several camp fires and 
a redoubt. Most of these remains will rapidly disappear with the building 
operations encouraged by the extension of the Subway. 

Go east on One Hundred and Seventh-second Street to Amsterdam 
Avenue; or walk direct up Audubon Avenue. 

Lands walked over are part of the last allotment of Common Lands of the 
Town of Nieuw Haerlem in 17 12. Occasionally traces of old stone fences may 
yet be seen in vacant blocks. 

At One Hundred and Seventy-second Street, zvalk east around the 
Reservoir to the terrace on the east side. Note the fine view over the 
Bronx. 

50. High Bridge, built to carry the first Croton aqueduct across 
the Harlem in 1842. See tablet on bridge abutment. The high 
tower of the Water Department affords a fine panoramic view 
of the Heights and the Bronx, but it is not always accessible 
without a permit from the Department. The upper gallery is 404 
feet above the river. 

51. Crab Island. The marshy ground on the Bronx side of the Harlem at this 
point was the place of embarkation of the 42d Highlanders in their attack in 
the Battle of Fort Washington, November 16, 1776. They landed in a ravine 
about One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Street in what is now Highbridge Park. 
The American troops were concealed among the rocks of the Park. 

Take Amsterdam Avenue car going north. 

52. British Redoubt. East of Amsterdam Avenue, in a field, 
opposite One Hundred and Ninetieth Street, a British redoubt with 
embrasures may still be seen. This formed the extreme east end of 
the Fort George outworks, commanding the Harlem River. Palisades 
extended from it down to the river bank. At One Hundred and Nine- 
tieth Street, on Audubon Avenue, was an Officers' Camp of the Brit- 
ish Army. 



IS4 



Fort George MANHATTAN 23 Route 

53. Fort George, in 1776 "Laurel Hill," later called Fort Clin- 
ton. Three fortifications were constructed from 1776 to 1783. The 
first, Laurel Hill, was taken by the British November 16, 1776, the 
American Colonel Baxter being killed. This was located under the 
present site of the Schultheis Casino. The second was an enlarge- 
ment of the first, built by British troops in 1779, and extended around 
the present Fort George Avenue, Part of the fortification may still 
be seen east of Audubon Avenue, opposite One Hundred and Nine- 
ty-second to One Hundred and Ninety-third Streets. 

54. The great military Camp of Laurel Hill was occupied by many British and 
Hessian regiments between 1777 and 1783, and extended over the present truck 
gardens, west of Audubon Avenue, from One Hundred and Ninetieth to One 
Hundred and Ninety-fourth Streets. This hill was known in Dutch days as 
the " Ronde-vlys-berg " or " Round Meadow Hill," reserved for a future 
"dorp" or village, but divided in 1712. 

Note the fine views: west — Fort Washington; northwest — Fort 
Tryon ; the flat valley below was the farm of the Kortright family 
to 1776; east — Fordham Manor, with New York University, just 
north of the site of Fort No. VHI, the ridge extending north towards 
Valentine's Hill, the site of Fort Independence (Excursion IX, Sec- 
tion 2) ; north — the view includes the " Round meadow " ; the Dyck- 
man farm and Nagel lands beyond Two Hundred and Tenth Street ; 
"Sherman's Bay" or the "Half Kill"; Inwood, or the Cock Hill, 
site of Cock Hill Fort of 1776 and beyond, to the northeast, Alarble 
Hill, site of Fort Prince Charles (see Section IV). 

Walk down St. Nicholas Avenue to Dyckman Street, or through the 
woods, passing 

55. British Earthworks in the woods half way down. 
(For points near Sherman's Creek see Section IV: 87, 88). 

56. Site of the house and farm of John Courtright. or Kortright (1703- 
80), south of Dyckman Street, between Nagel and Sherman Avenues. Quan- 
tities of shells and household rubbish have been excavated here. 

Return via Subway from Dyckman Street. 



155 



Route 23 HISTCRICAL GUIDE Washington's 

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, ROGER MORRIS OR 
JUMEL MANSION 

JOSIAH C. PUMPELLY, A. M., LL. B. 

The Roger Morris House, more recently known as the Jumel 
Mansion, and now as Washington's Headquarters, is a fine speci- 
men of Georgian architecture and ranks in historic interest with 
St. Paul's Chapel and Fraunces Tavern. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Morris, of the British 47th Regiment 
and a member of the King's Council, who was Washington's 
comrade in arms and wounded in the ill-fated attack on Fort Du 
Quesne, bought the property and in 1763 erected the house which 
he presented to his bride, Mary Philipse. as a wedding gift. 

It was occupied as headquarters by Washington from Septem- 
ber 14 to October 21, 1776. Here he formed plans for de- 
fending the Heights and for blocking the passage of the Hudson 
River and here he issued the remarkable series of general 
orders and carried on the famous correspondence with William 
Duer of the Secret Committee of Safety. In the neighborhood 
were camped 8000 inexperienced volunteer forces, mostly raw 
and . undisciplined, in motley garb and held together only by 
the bond of a common principle and the power of a united love 
of liberty and independence. 

During the battle which resulted in the capture of Fort Wash- 
ington, November 16, 1776, the Morris House was the center 
of operations. The three lines of earthworks to the south were 
carried by English troops under General Lord Percy; the 42d 
Highlanders scaled the hill above the present Speedway, while 
the main attack by the Hessians was in front of Fort Tryon. 
The prisoners from Fort Washington were first assembled in 
the Morris barns before being taken to the hulks and prison 
houses in New York. 

The house was the headquarters of Lieutenant-General Sir 
Henry Clinton, and. therefore, the headquarters of the British 
Army, during the entire summer of 1777. 

During the summer of 1778 it was occupied, after his return 
from Philadelphia, by Lieutenant-General Baron von Knyphausen 
and his German staff. It continued throughout the war to be the 
Hessian headquarters, and in the last years was occupied by 
Lieutenant-General von Losberg. 

156 



Headquarters MANHATTAlSr 23 Route 

After the Revolution the Morris farm was confiscated and 
sold. It was successively farmhouse and inn, the latter known 
as Calumet Hall, where the first change of horses was made 
after leaving New York for Albany. In 1790, President Wash- 
ington and his Cabinet, after a visit to Fort Washington on 
July 10, dined here "on a dinner provided by a Mr. Marriner." 
Among the guests of the President were John and Abigail Adams, 
Alexander Hamilton and Mrs. Hamilton, General Knox and 
Mrs. Knox, Thomas Jefferson, Mrs. Tobias Lear, John Park 
Custis and Nellie Custis. 

In 1810 the house was bought by Stephen Jumel, a wealthy 
French wine merchant, who restored it to its condition in Wash- 
ington's time. In 1815 the Jumels went to France in their own 
ship for the purpose of bringing Napoleon Bonaparte to America. 
They remamed abroad until 1826, the house being rented during 
that time. Stephen Jumel returned in 1828 and the family was 
united in the old house. The Jumels brought with them many 
presents from Napoleon and souvenirs of his reign. His cam- 
paigning trunk, a chariot clock from the Tuileries, a table painted 
by Josephine and numerous pieces of furniture remained in the 
house until 1888. Stephen Jumel died in 1832 and was buried in 
the grounds of the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Prince Street. 

In 1833 Mme. Jumel married Aaron Burr. The marriage was 
soon followed by a separation and divorce. 

From a period even before the Jumel purchase the house was 
the resort of French emigres. Louis Napoleon, Jerome and 
Joseph Bonaparte were at various times guests of Mme. Jumel. 
Mme. Jumel died in 1865 and her tomb may be seen in Trinity 
Cemetery, west of Broadway, near One Hundred and Fifty-fourth 
Street. 

Nelson Chase, who studied law in the office of Aaron Burr 
and married Mary Bownes, the niece of Mme. Jumel, occupied 
the house for fifty years. He was an able lawyer and litterateur 
and entertained here James Parton, the poet, N. P. Willis, his 
sister Fanny Fern, Mrs. Blennerhasset and many other literary 
friends. 

While a guest here, FitzGreene Halleck wrote his celebrated 
poem, " Marco Bozzaris." 



157 



Route 23 HISTORICAL GUIDE Washington's 

After the death of Chase the property changed hands several 
times and tinally in May, 1903. it was pnrchased for $235,000 by 
the city, through the intercession of the Washington Heights 
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, assisted 
by the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. 

On December 28, 1903, the house was formally opened under 
*he auspices of the City of New York and on January 19, 1905, 
the Park Department decided to retain control, and in 1907 
the Washington's Headquarters Association of New York and 
the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution acquired 
the use of the house for a museum of historic relics and furnish- 
ings of the period of the Revolution. 

The Council Chamber, the large octagonal room at the back 
of the hall, known in Washington's time as the Court-Martial 
Room, contains some rare pieces of Colonial furniture, notably 
one of the Washington plates decorated with the insignia of the 
Cincinnati. It is said that in this room Washington received 
visits of the sachems of the Five Iroquois Nations who offered 
their allegiance to tlie cause of liberty. 

The Guard Room, in charge of Reginald Pelham Bolton, con- 
tains a collection of objects dug up on the battlefield and camp 
grounds in the vicinity by Messrs. Bolton and Carver, such as 
cannon balls and bar-shot, buttons of British and Hessian regi- 
ments, shoe-buckles, coins, Revolutionary weapons and Indian 
remains. 

The Dining Room contains portraits of the hosts and hostesses 
and famous guests of the house, all carefully arranged and veri- 
fied by W. H. Shelton, the Curator; also, a collection of Napo- 
leon-Jumel china presented by Edwin Francis Searles of Methuen, 
^lass. 

The Tea Room, which in Washington's time must have been 
the office of the Adjutant General, contains old furniture, por- 
traits, cabinets of china and souvenirs of the Colonial and Revo- 
lutionary periods. 

Washington's Bedroom and Office and the Rooms of Lafayette 
and Burr are on the second floor. The Washington bedroom is 
furnished as a Colonial bedroom, and one of its notable exhibits 
is a small table on which Major Andre wrote a letter to Arnold 
in the presence of his captors. The Lafayette Room contains 

158 



Headquarters MANHATTAN 23 Route 

the collection of Mrs. Louis Bennett of West Virginia, and in- 
cludes the richly carved bed and sofa used by Lafayette at the 
Charleston (S. C.) Hotel. 

Other important exhibits are the Washington table from 
Fraunces Tavern, a British army blanket of the period of the 
Revolution, reproduction of the West and Copley portraits of 
Roger Morris and Mary Philipse (presented by the Hon. H. M. 
Bower, Mayor of Ripon, England), Washington watches, mourn- 
ing pitchers and handkerchiefs, Aaron Burr's trunk, Governor 
Bradford's punch-bowl, Governor Trumbull's chair and Lafayette 
relics. 

On the front of the house note the tablet erected in 1900 by 
the Washington Heights Chapter, Daughters of the American 
Revolution. 

The building and grounds are open to the public every day 
from 9 to 5. 



?Q 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



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Plate XXIX. Routes 23, 24, 25. 



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MANHATTAN 

ROUTE 24. 

SECTION III— FORT WASHINGTON. 
One Hundred and Eighty-first to One Hundred and Ninety-sixth 

Streets. 

Take Broadway Subway to One Hundred and Eighty-first Street and 

walk west to Broadway. 

(Figures refer to Plate XXIX; see XXX). 

57. The Moore House, on the west side of Broadway, be- 
tween One Hundred and Seventy-ninth and One Hundred and 
Eightieth Streets, is on the site of, and the lower part is probably a 
portion of, the original farmhouse of the Van Oblinus family, first 
Dutch settlers (before 1706). In 1691 the land around was granted 
to Joost Oblinus, Magistrate of Harlem, and was known as the 
" Indian Field " or " Great Maize Land," having been one of the 
planting grounds of the Weckquaskeek tribe. 

58. Holyrood Protestant Episcopal Church, at Broadway and 
One Hundred and Eighty-first Street, to be moved to One Hun- 
dred and Seventy-ninth Street and Fort Washington Avenue. See 
within a tablet erected in 1902 by the Mary Washington Colonial 
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in memory 
of the exploit of Margaret Corbin. In the guild hall the great 
fireplace is built of stones and bricks from colonial houses and 
Revolutionary fireplaces. In the churchyard see the Eleventh 
Milestone (originally at One Hundred and Seventy-first Street 
and Broadway). The surrounding land was occupied by Ameri- 
can barracks in 1776 (a camp market being held here in October 
of that year), and by Von Donop's Hessian hut-camp until 1781. 

59. Site of the Blue Bell Tavern, on the west side of Broadway, 60 feet north 
of One Hundred and Eighty-first Street. At this point Washington reviewed 
the army of occupation on Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783. The tavern 
was a well-known hostelry probably started about 1730; Cadwalader Colden 
mentions it in 1751. It was occupied by Howe on the capture of Fort Wash- 
ington. Afterwards it became the store and home of the family of Bernard 
Bauer, or Bowers, and existed as a dwelling to 1870. (See the view in 
Valentine's Manual, 1857, p. 208.) 

The westerly hill north of One Hundred and Eighty-first Street was known 
as "Long Hill," changed in 1776 to "Mount Washington"; Laurel Hill, now 
Fort George, lies northeast of the line of Broadway. 

Go west on One Hundred and Eighty-Urst Street and north througii 
the old Bennett Lane, passing on the right 

60. Death Gap, the ravine to the north, the traditional scene of 
great execution, as here the British and Hessian troops tried to force 
their way up the heights, the defenders hurling great boulders down 
on them from above. Human bones have been found in the valley 
below, many near the Roman Catholic Church and One Hundred and 
Eighty-seventh Street. 

161 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



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.163 



Route 24 HISTORICAL GUIDE Ft. Washington 

The " Hessian Spring " in the ravine below the rocks is now covered by 
Bennett Avenue at One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Street. The line of the 
avenue above was the site of the hut-camp, and some traces of the garrison of 
English and Scotch troops were found here in 1909. The line of an old zig- 
zag road, connecting Fort Washington and Fort George, may still be traced 
on both sides of Broadway. 

61. Remains of Fort Washington, the central citadel of the 
defenses of the Heights in the Revolution, built chiefly by Penn- 
sylvania troops, directed by Colonel Rufus Putnam, afterwards 
captured by the British, and called Fort Knyphausen. This is the 
highest point of land on Manhattan, 270 feet above tidewater. 
Here the American garrison of 3000 men and officers surrendered 
on Nov. 16, 1776. At One Hundred and Eighty-third Street and 
Fort Washington Avenue the site of the fort is marked by a 
marble wayside seat and tablet (the gift of James Gordon Ben- 
nett), erected in 1901, under the auspices of the Empire State 
Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and of the American 
Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. The tablet is at the 
base of the northeast bastion of the fort. The west bastions are 
plainly visible southwest of the Bennett House; the east glacis 
was the slope on the north side of One Hundred and Eighty-first 
Street and ravelins or breastworks extended across the old Ben- 
nett Lane and front yards of the two houses on One Hundred 
and Eighty-first Street, at the intersection of Fort Washington 
Avenue. Along Fort Washington Avenue have been unearthed 
numerous military relics, and 75 feet south of One Hundred and 
Eighty-first Street were found bones of 45 dead who appear to 
have been buried in a trench. This was the site of the garrison 
burying ground, and those killed at the Battle of Fort Washing- 
ton were probably buried at this point. 

62. Bennett House, the one-time residence of the elder and 
younger James Gordon Bennett, founders of the " New York 
Herald." 



164 



MANHATTAN 

ROUTE 25. 

SIDE TRIP A— FORT WASHINGTON MONUMENT TO 

FORT WASHINGTON PARK. 
ll'alk south on Fort Washington Avenue to One Hundred and Eighty- 
first Street, west to Riverside Drive, once Boulevard La- 
fayette, and south to the entrance of Fort 
Washington Park. 
(Figures refer to Plate XXIX). 
Follow the path over the bridge, crossing the deep cutting of the 
Hudson River R. R., nicknamed the " Dolly Varden," the earliest 
railroad line (date of franchise August 19, 1847) to enter the city, 
over which a few passenger trains and many freight trains still pass. 

63. Sunset Lane meets this path from the south just before it 
crosses the bridge. Cedar Point is the projection into the Hudson 
northwest of the bridge. A fine view may be obtained up the 
river as far as the Tappan Zee. After crossing the bridge, turn 
up the side path to the left and on the top of the hill see the 

64. Redoubt, built in October, 1776, by American troops, di- 
rected by Imbert, a French engineer, the best preserved of the 
entire district. 

Pass south through the redoubt and down over the rocks a short 

distance to 

65. Site of telegraph mast, a circular hole in a flat rock, cut in 
1852 for the support of a tall mast from which were suspended 
telegraph wires to the New Jersey shore, before the submarine 
cable was perfected. See the iron staybolts in the surrounding 
rocks. 

Descend to the river shore. The extreme point is 

66. Jeffrey's Hook, now known as Fort Washington Point, the 
place from which ships were taken and sunk in the Hudson to 
check the passage of the British fleet in 1776. Here Washington 
crossed to and from Fort Lee, which is situated nearly due west 
on the Palisades. (Excursion to Ft. Lee: Excursion V, Section 6). 
The point is covered by remains of a one-gun " lunette," or moon- 
shaped battery, built in 1776. Note the beaches where men and 
stores were landed. Indian shell heaps line the bank of the east- 
erly beach. 

Take a rocky path south along shore to the Fort Washington Rail- 
road Station, or return by Sunset Lane to Depot Lane 
and ascend east to Broadzuay, passing 

67. Site of Post's Tavern, at the east side of Broadway, opposite Depot Lane^ 
It was a well known hostelry from the Revolution to about 1854. Many smaU 
relics have been found at the northwest intersection of the above streets. 

Return to Subway Station at One Hundred and Eighty-first Street or 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



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Plate XXXI. Routes 23, 26, 28a. 



166 



MANHATTAN 



ROUTE 26. 

SIDE TRIP B— TO FORT TRYON. 
(Figures refer to Plate XXXI; see also XXX.) 

Walk north along Fort Washington Avenue, passing 

68. Libby Castle, built in 1864 by William Alexander Richards 
and occupied for a time by William Tweed. 

69. The site of Fort Tryon is at One Hundred and Ninty-sixth 
Street, on what was known as Forest Hill. A small two-gun 
"fleche" (marked by a tablet, the gift of C. K. G. Billings and 
erected in 1909 under the auspices of the American Scenic and 
Historic Preservation Society), forming the one-time northeast 
angle of the fort, is still visible. On the northwest side of the 
hill breastworks may be seen, probably the scene of Margaret 
Corbin's exploit. Around this hill took place the bloodiest re- 
sistance of the battle, 600 Maryland and Virginia troops with- 
standing 4,6co Hessians for nearly three hours. Half way down 
the hill towards the Hudson, and reached from the top by a nar- 
row path, was the spring which, at one time, supplied the gar- 
rison. In the little field on the east side are said to be buried 
the Hessian dead. 

70. The Abbey is a fanciful name applied to the old Hays 
House, now a restaurant. 

Descend by the hill, turning southeast to Broadway, thence north to 
Dyckman Street, passing 

71. The site of the old Black Horse Tavern of about 1812, on 
the corner of Riverside Drive and Dyckman Street. 

Return by Subway or Surface Cars. 



167 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 27. 

SECTION IV.— KINGSBRIDGE TO INWOOD. 
(Figures refer to Plates XXXI and XXXII; see also XXX). 
Take Broadway Subway to Two Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street 

Station. 
72. Marble Hill, once known as Humock Island or Papirinemen 
("a place parcelled out")- This Indian name included the creek 
around the Hill. 

yz- The King's Bridge, established by Royal Grant of William 
and Mary to Frederick Philipse of the Manor of Philipsburgh in 




Plate XXXII. Routes 27, 28. 
168 



Ship Canal MANHATTAN 27 Route 

1693 and first constructed about twenty yards east of the present 
bridge, rebuilt in 1713, near its present position. It was broken 
down after the retreat of Washington's troops over it in October, 
1776; repaired by Knyphausen's forces; abandoned from 1779 to 
1782 as too exposed to American attacks, and replaced by a bridge of 
boats and pontoons further west. The bridge rebuilt after the 
Revolution was practically on the present lines, except that it was 
double, having a flume or dyke to supply water to Macomb's grist 
and marble mills. The latter were destroyed in 1856. 

The M^'ading Place. A shallow place about 150 teet west of the bridge, 
first used as a ford for passengers and beasts. 

In 1673 a ferry was established here by Verveelen. 

Under the present Broadway bridge was a little marshy island, locally known 
as Gardener's Island, on which was an Indian shell heap. 

74. Fort Prince Charles, or the Charles Redoubt, at the corner 
of Marble Hill Avenue and Two Hundred and Eighty-eighth Street, 
was marked in 1894 by a flagpole and a notice board. It was an 
earthwork commenced by the American forces in the summer of 
1776 to protect the bridge, and was completed by the Hessian troops 
after November, 1776. Another small fleche, or angular redoubt, 
was located to the east, on Kingsbridge Avenue. 

75. Site of Hyatt's Tavern, built and opened by Jacob Dyckman, Jr., in 1763, 
soon after selling McGown's Pass Tavern (Section I), west of the present 
Broadway, exactly opposite the Kingsbridge Hotel in now vacant lots. 

76. Farmer's Bridge, also known as the Dyckman, Free, or 
Queen's Bridge, built in 1759 to evade the tolls at the King's Bridge, 
on Dyckman's and Vermilyea's lands. It was broken down by the 
American forces while retreating from Fort Independence in Novem- 
ber, 1776; restored and used by the Hessians in landing on this 
island ; again broken in 1778, on account of the American attacks, 
and later restored. 

77. United States Ship Canal, established and constructed by 
the United States Government. Before it was cut through, two little 
brooks ran east and west on the line of the center of the swing 
span of the bridge. These, in 1817, were enlarged into a little canal 
by the owner, Curtis and John Bolton, the latter an Alderman of 
New York, and a marble mill and quarries were established here by 
them. The present double-deck swing span replaced (1906) the 
single swing span, which now forms part of the Fordham Manor 
Bridge at Two Hundred and Seventh Street. 

78. The Marble Arch was built in recent years as an entrance 
to the Seaman, now the Drake Estate. 

79. The Twelfth Milestone, set into the wall of the entrance 
to the Isham property, at Two Hundred and Eleventh Street. Its 
original position was about One Hundred and Ninetieth Street. 

169 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 28a 

SIDE TRIP A.— COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY SITES 
EAST OF BROADWAY. 

(Figures refer to Plates XXI and XXXII). 

Take the old Nagel Lane to the cast, or the recently opened Two 
Hundred and Fourteenth Street to 

80. Colonial Burying Ground, established by the early settlers, 
after 1677, on the Nagel property and placed in trust, 1807.. It con- 
tains remains of the Nagel, Vermilyea, Post, Ryer and other local 
families. The Dyckman remains were removed in 1905, except those 
of Staats Morris Dyckman and family. At the east end of the 
graveyard, small stones mark the graves of the unknown dead, 
tradition says of the Hessian and British garrison, 1777-83. From 
the south side of the graveyard the remains were removed in 1909 
to widen Two Hundred and Twelfth Street. 

81. Site of the Negro Burying Ground , across Tenth Avenue, between Two 
Hundred and Eleventh and Two Hundred and Twelfth Streets, for the slaves 
of the settlers, — it contained thirty-six graves, all destroyed by excavation in 
1902. 

82. Indian Ceremonial Pits were located on Two Hundred and Eleventh 
Street, west of Tenth Avenue. They were opened in 1904 and found to con- 
tain the remains of a dog, a snake and a turtle, oyster shells and pottery, 
probably used in a ceremony known as " The White Dog Feast." 

JJ^alk east to Ninth Avenue. 

83. Site of the " Century " House, burnt down 1901, entirely removed in 1907, 
stood near the bank of tiie" Harlem, in the line of Two H|undred and Thirteenth 
Street. The house was built by Jan Nagel (the 2d) in 1735-6, used by Cicneral 
William Heath as headquarters in 1776, and later occupied by British and 
Hessian officers. Buttons of an officer of the 17th Light l^ragoons were found 
here, as were buttons of the 15th, 38th, 47th, 57th, 8oth and of the Royal 
Provincial Regiments, also Hessian buttons, Hanoverian and British coins. In 
front of the house the remains of a small building were discovered in 1906, 
with military objects (bayonets, bar shots, bullets, etc.), showing Revolutionary 
occupation. It was possibly the original settler's house, 1677 to 1735. 

JValk south along the river bank or along Ninth Avenue to Tzvo 
Hundred and Tenth Street. 

84. Site of the Dyckman House, at Two hundred and Tenth Street, on the 
bank of the river, used during the Revolution by officers of the British troops, 
but destrovetl or abandoned about 1781. 

Two Hundred and Eleventh Street was the line of division of the farms of 
Nagel and Dyckman, partitioned in 1744; it also formed the north boundary of 
the first land grant of this district to Jansen and Aertsen in 1647. 

85. At Two Hundred and Ninth Street, on the river bank, note the traces of 
a great Indian shell heap. Two dog burials were found here. 

Continue south on Ninth Avenue. 

86. FoRDHAM Manor or Nicw York University Bridge. 

The low ground here on the Harlem was the meadow known as Myndert's 
Vly, the meadow of Meynard Journee whose name the Dutch changed to 
Meyndert Maljaart. It was bought from him in 1676 by Nagel and held by 
his heirs, although in the middle of the Dyckman lands, and known to modern 
times by the name of the original owner. 

87. A British Camp of considerable extent existed on the edge of the bank 

170 



Sherman's Creek MANHATTAN 28a, 28b Routes 

of the river, between Two Hundredth and Two Hundred and First Streets on 
a site now entirely covered by the power house of the New York Edison Corn- 
pan v. 

Here was a group of military buildings, storehouses or officers' huts. Near 
the remains of a great camp fire, numerous military objects, including many 
buttons of the loth, 23d, 37th, 64th and Royal Provincial Regiments, were 
found. 

Holland's Ferry across the Harlem was maintained at this point, to connect 
with Fort No. \"III, on the hill just south of the Hall of Fame (New York 
University). This ferry was attacked and the ropes cut by the American forces 
in the raid in 1781. 

Walk west along the north side of 

88. Sherman's Creek, known by the Dutch as the "Half Kill," 
and later as the "Round Meadow Creek" (1811). On the southeast 
bank the British troops landed November 16, 1776, to assault Laurel 
Hill (Fort George) (53, 54). 

IValk west on Academy Street, passing through the Round Meadow 
or Ronde Vly, to Broadway. 

89. The brook running from Broadway to the Creek was known as Pieter 
Tuynier's (the gardener's) Run, or Fall, being on the lands allotted at a very 
early date to Pierre Cresson. 



ROUTE 28b. 

SIDE TRIP B.— WEST OF BROADWAY TO COLD SPRING. 

From Broadway, go west on Academy Street. 
Note. — If Side Trip A is omitted, continue down Broadway from 
(79) J passing at Hawthorne Avenue the Dyckman House (98). 

90. Indian Village and British Camp of the 17th Regiment. The center of 
this large camp was approximately in the garden between Cooper Street and 
Seaman Avenue; it was excavated in 1907 and the numbered buttons of many 
British regiments were found. Indian pits were found, some being ceremonial, 
and several Indian human burials were also discovered here in 1907-08, with 
many aboriginal weapons and stone implements. 

Walk south around Seaman Avenue to Prescott Avenue. 

91. Site of British Officers' Quarters, at the intersection of Seaman and 
Prescott Avenues. Buttons of many regiments have been found here. 

Above Rieff's Cottage were found the remains of a flagpole, military bake- 
ovens and other indications of camp life. 

- Walk north up Prescott Avenue. 

92. Site of 17th Regiment Hut. A fireplace (about 150 feet north of Rieff's 
Cottage on the west side of Prescott Avenue) was found in 1904 and marks 
one of the huts of this regiment which are shown in Von Krafft's sketch map of 
1778. The regiment moved hence to Stony Point and was captured there July 
15-16, 1779, by the American troops under General Anthony Wayne. 

Walk over the hill and down the into the wooded valley known as 

the Clove. Folloiv the path to the west side of Manhattan 

along the shore of Spuyten Duyvil Creek to 

171 



Route 28 b HISTORICAL GUIDE Cold Spring 

03. The Cold Spring, or Spouting Spring, which probably gave 
its name to the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. The spring is now piped 
to a spot near the river, but originally spouted from the rocks. The 
Indian name of this locality, including (as they generally did) 
the Creek at this place, was Shora-kaf^kok, which may be trans- 
lated " as far as the sitting-down or resting place," probably sig- 
nificant of the secluded character of the hollow, undoubtedly used 
for a long period of time by the aborigines whose large palisaded 
village {Xip-nich-scn) occupied the summit of Spuyten Duyvil Hill 
opposite. 

Note the great tree, the largest tulip on the Island of Manhattan, 
but probably not older than the past century, 6 1-2 feet in diameter, 
grown through an Indian shell heap which extends to the south. 
Return south along the path about 75 yards tJiencc zccst tJirough 
the zi'oods to the 

94. Indian Rock Dwelling, discovered by Alexander C. Cheno- 
weth, within which were found aboriginal pottery, tools, bones, etc., 
now in Case I. Indian Room of the American Museum of Natural 
History, evidencing long occupation by tribes, antecedent to their 
scattering by the ]\Iohawk Indians in 1673. In the rocks above was 
a cache, or store place, and below, to the east, under a large rock, 
are evidences of use of a fireplace. 

95. Cock Hill. The hill above was known in colonial davs as Cock Hill, 
possibly shortened from Shora-kaf'kok, corrupted, in Revolutionary times, to 

Cox's Hill." confounded witii the name of the Tory innkeeper of Kings- 
bridge. The remains of an American fort, enlarged by the British and used to 
1780, were once on the land of James McCreery, but are not now discoverable. 

From Cold Spring a trail leads over the hill to the Hudson where 
may be seen the point of anchorage of Henry Hudson in September, 
1609, and of the first encounter with the natives of Xip-]iich-scn (see 

93). 

Returning to Broadzcay, take path leading to Emerson Street, passing 

96. Indian Planting Ground, now cultivated land, on the Isham property which 
has yielded many Indian objects and tools, discovered by W. L. Calver. 

97. Scene of Figliting. November S-9. 1776. This entire vale was the scene 
of a skirmish between Pennsylvania troops and the Hessian advance guard, 
November 8-9, 1776, and was also the line of march of the center division of 
the Hessian army advancing against Fort Tryon on November 16, 1776, under 
Baron Knyphausen. 

Traces of Indian camps and military encampments have been found at several 
places in this vale. 

98. Dyckman Dwelling: the second, or perhaps third, Dyck- 
man house, built in 17S7, probably with materials from the older 
houses; it gives a good idea of the appearance of colonial farm 
dwellings, being much like the Century House. See old chimney 
on the south side. 

17a 



NOTES 



173 



NOTES 



174 



PART TWO 



BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 
EXCURSION IX— ROUTES 29-34a. 



NOTES 



176 



EXCURSION IX— HISTORIC BRONX. 
By Randall Comfort. 

Copyright, 1906, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




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Plate XXIII. Key T^Iap to the Bronx. C, K. 



178 



THE BRONX 

THE BRONX 

Bibliography. 

" History of Westchester County," Bolton. 

" History of Westchester County," Scharf. 

" History of Westchester County," Shonard. 

'* History of Bronx Borough, New York City," Comfort. 

" History of Kingsbridge," Edsall. 

" History of Yonkers," Allison. 

"The Old Post Road," Hine. 

"Historic New York" (Paper on "The Neutral Ground"). 

"Battle of Pell's Point," Abbott. 

" The Spy," Cooper. 

*' Reminiscences of an Old Westchester Homestead," Pryer. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE BRONX. 

The Borough of the Bronx derives its name from the first white settler, 
Jonas Bronck, who settled near the Bronx Kills in 1639 and called his home 
Emmaus. An adjacent river became known as Bronck's (shortened later to 
Bronx) River and in recent times the same name was applied to the whole 
borough. Many Indians of the Mohican nation, Suwanoy tribe and Weck- 
quaeskeeks local tribe, branches of the Algonquin race, made this borough their 
home, dwelling on the shores of the Hudson, the Sound and the Bronx River. 
They left various Indian names behind them, such as Acquehaunck, Mannepies, 
Quinnahoung Kekeshick, Laap-hawach-king, Mosholu. Many of the old title- 
deeds date back to early purchases from Indian sachems. 

The earliest Dutch settlement was probably in 1654 at Westchester. The 
English soon followed, some of the first titles being granted by Governor Nicolls. 

Many Revolutionary scenes were enacted in this borough and a full quota 
of its citizens went forth to serve and die in defence of their rights. The 
dreaded Neutral Ground extended from the Harlem to the northern limits of 
the present borough. Pelham saw the " Battle of Pelham Neck," while West- 
chester may well boast of its Battle of Westchester Creek (see Section V). Other 
sections could tell of individual engagements with the King's forces. 

The early and middle parts of the Nineteenth Century brought great 
changes. Extensive farm lands were made to bring forth the fruits of the earth; 
then came the successful business men, who located here their country^ estates 
and elegant mansions, many examples of which are yet to be found, in spite 
of the advance of the city. 

The year 1874 brought annexation to the city of New York of 13,000 acres 
of the western part of the Bronx, followed in 1895 by the remaining 20,000 
acres. And now these 33,000 acres of hill and plain are fast merging into that 
wonderful city that is proud to style itself " America's Metropolis.' 

179 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XXXIV. RouTiiTs 29, 29a, 29b. 



C, K. 



From Kingsbridge north the section including Yonkers was in Revolutionary 
days termed the Neutral Ground, the scene of numerous ravages by irregular 
bands known as Coivboys and Skinners, who committed such lawless depreda- 
tions that many of the residents were forced into temporary exile. 



180 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 29. 

SECTION I— KINGSBRIDGE TO VAN CORTLANDT PAR-K. 
(Figures refer to Plate XXXIV). 

Take N. Y. Central train from Grand Central Station to Kingsbridge 
Station or Broadway Subway to Two Hundred and Forty- 
second Street, passing en route on the left 

1. Old King's Bridge, described in Excursion IV, Section IV. 

2. Macomb Mansion, on the Bronx mainland, faces the Broad- 
way Bridge. In 1693 this was known as the public house '' at the 
north end of the bridge," and in 1776 as Cox's Tavern. It was bought 
by Alexander Macomb in 1797, who built nearby in 1800 the first 
Macomb's Dam (see 25), and in 1848 was sold to the late J. H. God- 
win. Parts still show its great age. 

At Kingsbridge the old Post Road from New York divided, the Albany Post 
Road (1669), now Albany Road, leading northward to Van Cortlandt, Yonkers 
and Albany, while the Boston Post Road (1672) led northeast over Williams- 
bridge through Eastchester and New Rochelle to Boston. The Kingsbridge 
Road extended southeast up Breakneck Hill to West Farms and Westchester, 
passing at the foot of the hill the old house still called Emmerich's Head- 
quarters, after the colonel of the Hessians who had their extensive camp on 
the premises. 

Enter Van Cortlandt Park and walk through 

3. The Dutch Garden, south of the mansion, surrounded by 
a moat. One of the stones of the old mill forms the base for 
the pedestal of a sun-dial. 

4. Van Cortlandt Mansion, now a museum in the care of the 
Colonial Dames, built in 1748 (see inscription on walls) by Fred- 
erick Van Cortlandt. See tablet on the southeast corner. Note 
the quaint key-stones over the windows, probably brought from 
Holland. Here were entertained Washington, Rochambeau, the 
Duke of Clarence (later King William the Fourth) and others. 
During the Revolution this structure was the headquarters for 
the Hessian Jaegers. In one of the rooms Captain Rowe, of the 
Pruicsbank Jaegers, expired in the arms of his bride-elect, hav- 
ing been mortally wounded in an engagement with the patriots 
in the Tippett Valley. Here Washington stayed over night in 
1781 previous to leaving for Yorktown, and again on November 
12, 1783, before crossing King's Bridge to enter New York. 

See guide-book, to be obtained from the custodian. 

181 



Route 29 HISTORICAL GUIDE Van Cortlandt 

5. The Rhinelander Sugar House Window is just northeast 
of the mansion (see inscription). It was presented by J. T. O. 
Rhinelander in 1903, and was formerly part of the old sugar 
house in Rose and Duane Street. (Excursion 1:46). This is flanked 
by two cannon from Fort Independence (see 34). 

6. The Statue of Major-General Josiah Porter is behind the 
Mansion; it was presented by the National Guard, State of New 
York, in 1902. 

10. The Parade Ground, military camping place, lies to the north. It is 
the site of Va)i der Donck's Planting Field (1653) where he located his bouw- 
erie, secured by purchase from the Indians and grant from Governor Kieft, and 
about 1650 built a house near the site of the first Van Cortlandt house (8). 
Later his lands were called Colendonck, or Donck's Colony. 

Go east, then south, on Path to 

7. The site of Van Cortlandt Saw and Grist Mills (1700) at the west end 
of the bridge over the dam. These mills were in use for over two hundred 
years; they were struck by lightning and burned in 1901, and the picturesque 
ruins were later removed; one of the millstones is still to be seen on the bank 
of the mill-race. 

8. The site of the original Van Cortlandt House (1700) and the Van Der 
Donck House (1650). Adrian Der Donck, the first white settler, came here 
about 1650, built his house and established his bouwerie (see 10). His vast 
estates were known as the Yonk-Herr's (Young Gentleman's) land, whence the 
name of Yonkers. 

9. The Berrian Burying-Ground, between the mansion and the 
lake. Further east was the negro burying ground, where the 
slaves of the early owners were interred. Across the lake may 
be seen the extensive golf links of Van Cortlandt Park. 

Van Cortlandt Lake was made in 1700 by throwing an em- 
bankment across Tippett's Brook, the Mosholu of the Indians. 

Follow the railway embankment to the north, cross the road and take 
rough path beyond over the track and to the top of 

11. Vault Hill and the Van Cortlandt Burial Vault. In 1776 
Augustus Van Cortlandt, then City Clerk, carried the records of 
New York City up here and hid them in this vault where they 
were preserved during the Revolution. In 1781 Washington 
built camp fires on this hill to deceive the British, while he was 
withdrawing his troops to Yorktown. About a mile northeast is 

12. Indian Field, on the Mile Square Road, Woodlawn Heights, 
which was the scene, August, 1778, of a battle between the British 
cavalry and a small party of Stockbridge Indians fighting on behalf 
of the patriots. At Two Hundred and Thirty-seventh Street and 
Mt. Vernon Avenue an impressive cairn of stones and a tablet have 
been erected, inscribed as follows : 

182 



Park THE BRONX 29 Route 

Upon this Field, August 31, 1778, Chief Nimham and Seventeen 

Stockbridge Indians, Allies of the Patriots, 

Gave their Lives for Liberty. 

Erected by Bronx Chapter, D. A. R., of Mount Vernon, N. Y. 

June 14th, 1906. 

N. B. — This may be reached with less walking by taking the Jerome Avenue 
tro'ley from One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street and Central Bridge to Two 
Hundred and Thirty-third Street; go east to Mount Vernon Avenue and north 
to Two Hundred and Thirty-seventh Street. 



103 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 29a. 

SIDE TRIP A— TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-SECOND 

STREET TO YONKERS. 

From the Subway station go north and take road on left running 

north {Newton Avenue, part of the old Post Road), 

passing on the left 

13. The 15th Milestone, recently reset by the City History 
Club. Note that this stone has the stonemason's name graven on 
its face. About 400 paces north is the 

14. Van Cortlandt's Miller's House, a white house built for 
the miller of the old estate. Further along, on the left, is 

15. The Hadley House, partly of wood unpainted and partly 
of stone covered with vines. It probably antedates the Van Cort- 
landt Mansion. It is said to have given shelter more than once 
to Washington, and to-day stands on a 60 acre farm. In the ad- 
joining woods many relics have been found, including old Eng- 
lish muskets, and an Indian skeleton in a sitting posture, holding 
a small child's skeleton in its arms. Tradition says that slaves 
were kept in the old stone room in the south wing of the house. 
Just above, north of Riverdale Lane, is the Samler House, the 
older portion dating back to the Revolution. 

Go east to Broadway and take ear to Valentine Lane. Walk west to 
Hawthorne Avenue, passing remains of 

17. Washington's Chestnut, a gigantic tree over two centuries 
old. A tradition relates that Washington used this tree as a place 
of observation. 

18. The Lawrence House, at the corner of Hawthorne Avenue. 
Washington stopped here and this is probably the house which 
was given to Lawrence as a reward for his services as guide. 

Co east on Valentine Lane and south on Riverdale Avenue. 

16. The home of Clara Morris, gate over the Yonkers line. 
Go west on Tzvo Hundred nd Sixty-first Street and take H. R. R. R. 

train from Mt. St. Vincent. 

19. Font Hill, the actor Forrest's old home (named for a 
former owner, La Font),, is a stone castle with six towers within 
the spacious grounds of Mt. St. Vincent Academy. 

Below Riverdale Station is 

20. The former home of Mark Twain, Sycamore Avenue and 
Two Hundred and Fifty-third Street, one block north of which 
is the Murusini Mansion. 

184 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 29b. 

SIDE TRIP B— WESTERN BRONX. 

From Two Hundred and Forty-second Street, go west on S pity ten 
Duyvil Parkway to Dash's Lane on which see 

21. The Gardener's Cottage, near Two Hundred and Thirt^^- 
eighth Street and Greystone Avenue, built in 1766 by Frederick 
Van Cortlandt. 

The powder house in the woods was built about 1835 to store 
powder for the Croton Aqtieduct. Near by are extensive Indian 
shell beds, 

22. Upper Cortlandt's, or Van Cortla;idt's on the Hill, to dis- 
tinguish it from the house on the meadow below; the Stone 
House was built in 1822 by A.ugustus Van Cortlandt and is now 
owned by Waldo Hutchins. Further west, near Spuyten Duyvil 
Parkway, in private property at the end of Two Hundred and 
Thirty-seventh Street, is the 

23. Cov/boy Oak where tradition says Cowboys were hanged 
during the Revolution. 

24. The Berrian Farmhouse, at the point of Berrian's Neck, 
commanding a magnificent view of the Hudson. See Cold Spring 
across Spuyten Duyvil Creek (Excursion IV:93). See also sites 
of Forts Nos. One, Two and Three. 

No. One forms the foundation of W. C. Muschenheim's house, Spuyten Duyvil 
Hill, west of the junction of Sydney Street and Independence Avenue. 

In his residence are cannonballs taken from the bank around the house, 
and Indian shells from aboriginal pits discovered in 1909 under the lawn in 
front of the house. 

No. Two, or Fort Swartwout; crown of hill,, northeast of intersection of 
Sydney and Troy Streets. 

No. Three, brow of Spuyten Duyvil Hill, north of Sydney and east of Troy 
Street. 

Under Spuyten Duyvil Hill is the site of the Indian Village of Nipinichsen, 
from which Indians came who attacked Hudson in 1609. 

Under the hill, west of Riverdale Avenue, is the Tippett Man- 
sion, the home of the family for which Tippett's Brook was 
named. 

18S 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



^^: 




//fl) 



Ct^ 




DIA<GEAM 
Section E. Excursion IX. 

BROMX. 



(46) 




Plate XXXV. Routes 30, 31, 32, 34a. 



C. K. 



186 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 30. 

SECTION II— CENTRAL BRIDGE TO UNIVERSITY 

HEIGHTS. 

(Figures refer to Plates XXXV and XXXVI). 

Take Sixth or Ninth Elevated Road to One Hundred and Fifty-fifth 

Street and Jerome Avenue car across Central Bridge and 

north on Jerome Avenue, at first following 

the line of the old Macomb's Dam Road. 

2<;. Ci^NTRAL "Bridge is practically on the site of the old Macomb's Dam 
Bridge, near wliich was the old Macomb Dam, making a pond out of the 
Harlem to sui)ply the Macomb Mill at Kingsbridge. The dam was broken 
down by a delegation of citizens about 1840 and, being declared a public nui- 
sance, was finally abandoned. 

A mile to the southeast, reached by walking east on One Hundred 
and Fifty-eighth Street and south on Grand Avenue is 

26. The Francis Mansion, at One Hundred and Forty-sixth 
Street and Grand Avenue, built about 1830 by Captain Francis, in- 
ventor of the metallic life-saving boats. He was offered knight- 
hood by Queen Victoria and other honors by Germany, and fin- 
ally received in his own country the "thanks of Congress." The 
old Dutch oven is still in the basement. 

Near One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Street the car passes on 
the right the 

27. Cromwell Farmhouse, about 150 years old, lying at the 
head of Cromwell's Creek, where the wild geese gathered in such 
flocks at night that sleep was almost impossible. 

On the high ground to the west is the old Anderson Mansion, 
almost on the site of the early home of Daniel Tourneur, the 
original patentee of Devoe's Point (about 1675.) This was the 
ancient Nuasin of the Indians. Jerome Avenue skirts the old Woolf 
Farm, the first owner of which came over with the Hessian troops 
during the Revolution and settled on Cromwell's Creek. 

Leave car at 

Featherbed Lane, so called because it was extremely rough 
and stony or from the story that the Americans, surprised by the 
British, were rescued by the ingenuity of the farmers' wives, who 
spread feather beds on the lane, thus enabling them to escape 
without being heard. 

Walk west to Macomb's road, one of the oldest roads in this section, 

to the 

187 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




N. Y. University THE BRONX 30 Route 

28. Townsend Poole Cottage. Note the date of erection, 1782, 
in iron figures on' the stone wall, reading backwards. In this 
cottage were lodged the Esquimaux brought by Lieutenant Peary 
from the far north. 

Walk along Featherbed Lane west to Marcher (Shakespeare) Avenue, 
then down to Jessup Place to the 

29. DeVoe Cottage, built in 1804, one of the landmarks of the 
region. The family is descended from the Huguenot family of 
Devaux. 

JValk dozvn Jessup Place to Boscohel Avenue, then north to Wash- 
ington Bridge, from the middle of which may be obtained fine 
panoramic views north and south. Take Aqueduct Avenue car 
to University Avenue. 

30. New York University, removed here from Washington 
Square in 1894 (Excursion 11, Section HI). 

The Hall of Fame, to honor great Americans, was dedicated 
on Memorial Day, 1901, when the first 29 tablets were unveiled. 
II more were unveiled in 1905. Note the view of the Dyckman" 
and Nagel farms in Inwood Valley and of the heights of Fort 
Washington. There is a small historical collection in the Li- 
brary. 

Tablet to mark site of Fort No. Eight, erected in 1900 on the 
Chemistry Building by the Sons of the Revolution. The Schwab 
mansion is within the site of the fort, (Refer to monograph on 
" Fort No. Eight " by Prof. Schwab of Yale.) At the old stone 
Archer House, just below, Colonel De Lancey of the Loyalist 
'' De Lanciey Horse," had his headquarters, while the nearby Fort 
No. Eight was occupied by the Americans. 

The site of Fort No. Seven (no trace) is at Camman Place and Fordham 
Road. 

On the campus is a monument to the Founders of N. Y. Uni- 
versity (built of material from the old building). 



189 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 30a. 

SIDE TRIP A— TO JEROME PARK RESERVOIR. 

(Figures refer to Plate XXXVI). 

From N. Y. University take Aqueduct Avenue trolley north to Kings- 
bridge Road, passing 

31. The Moses DeVoe Cottage, at Fordham Road, built in 
1782 and once owned by Peter Valentine. It was formerly the 
parsonage of the Fordham Manor Church. Near by was the 
tiny cemetery of the 

32. Fordham Manor Dutch Reformed Church, Kingsbridge 
Road and Aqueduct Avenue, the successor to the structure of 
1706. Virginia Poe, wife of the poet, was first buried here. The 
"Poe Cottage, where Edgar Allen Poe and his wife lived, stands 
on the old Kingsbridge Road, one-half mile east (see 69). The 
large buildings to the southwest are those of the Roman Catho- 
lic Orphan Asylum. 

Go north on Claflin Terrace along the zvest side of Jerome Park 
Reservoir, 300 acres in extent, occupying the site of the 
Jerome Park Race Track. The reservoir has obliterated 
the sites of the Betts and Bathgate Houses. 

33. Fort No. Five (lately restored and marked by a flag-pole), 
one of the chain of forts built by the Americans in 1776 to 
command the valley below. This may have been an outwork of 

34. British Fort No. Four, or the American Fort Independence (1776). The 
site of this fort is now occupied by the residence of Wm. O. Giles, on Giles 
IMace, near Fort Independence Street. In 1772 General Richard Montgomery- 
dwelt in this section, calling it his King's Bridge Farm. On his land stood 
until recently the ruins of a Revolutionary powder magazine known as Wash- 
ington's Powder House. On the edge of the hill is the 

35. Site of the Montgomery Cottage, destroyed 1909, of Dutch architecture, 
at Heath Avenue and I'^ort Independence Street. Across the old Boston Post 
Road was the Farm of Dominie Tetard, Chaplain to General Montgomery and 
French Interpreter to General Schuyler, his house dating from 1776. 

Go west to Broadway and take Subway. 



190 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 30b. 

SIDE TRIP B— WILLIAMSBRIDGE AND WAKEFIELD.' 

(Figures refer to Plate XXXVI and XXXVII). 

Take Jerome Avenue trolley to Van Cortlandt Avenue and walk east 
to Woodlawn Road, passing 

^6. The Isaac Varian Homestead, erected in 1776, the old 
wing (now destroyed) dating from 1770. An encounter between 
the British and Americans occurred here in 1776, the Continentals 
driving their foes out of this house and along the Boston Post 
Road to Fort Independence. 

Go south on Woodlawn Road to Bainhridge Avenue. 

27. The Church of the Holy Nativity, built into the walls of 
which are three old tombstones, two of the Bussing family dated 
1753 and one of the Valentine family. 

Go east on Two Hundred and Fifth Street to Nezvell Avenue, thence 

north, passing 

38. The Hermitage, a noted French restaurant. This locality 
is the scene of Hopkinson's Smith's "A Day at Laguerre's " 
and " Other Days." 

Go east and take Williamshridge trolley north on White Plains Road. 

Near Williamshridge Square, see on the right 

39. A Revolutionary House, painted red, its sides full of holes 
made by British bullets. 

Opposite the Catholic church is the site of the old Williams House, 
the home of the family after which Williamshridge is named. 

40. The Hustace House, one of the oldest landmarks of the 
region, Two Hundred and Twenty-first Street, facing an old white 
house on a disused lane. 

41. The Havens House, northeast corner of Twenty-second 
Street, very old and containing many relics, including the mahog- 
any bedstead on which Commodore Perry died. It is said that 
the piano now in Washington's headquarters at Newburgh was 
the property of Mrs. Havens while she was in the family of 
Governor Clinton, by whom she was adopted. On the corner 
of Two Hundred and Twenty-eighth Street stood the shingled house, 
torn down in 1885, used for a time by Washington as headquarters. 

191 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




DIAGRAM. 

SECTION 2(B) EXCUR5I0NIX 

BRONX. 



Plate XXXVII. Routes 30b, 34a. 



C. K. 



192 



Woodlawn THE BRONX 30b Route 

42. The Penfield Homestead, Demilt Avenue and Two Hun- 
dred and Forty-second Street, east of White Plains Road, over 
a century old. See quaint inscriptions on the old-fashioned win- 
dows, hand wrought nails and timbers and Dutch bricks testify 
to the age of the house. 

At Demilt Avenue once stood the Thirteen Trees planted in early days by a 
relative of the Paulding who helped to capture Andre. They have all yielded 
to the onward march of progress, the last one, a black walnut, measuring 3 
feet 8 inches at the butt, having been cut down a few years ago. 

Return to Baychcster Avenue and go west to Webster Avenue, pass- 
ing, at Baychester and Matilda Avenues, 

43. The former home of Adelina Patti, where she spent part 
of her girlhood. 

44. Washington's Gun House, on the old Hyatt Farm, west of 
Webster Avenue and just below the car barns. Here Washington 
is said to have stored his guns — hence the name of the adjoin- 
ing settlement, Washingtonville. 

Take JVebster Avenue trolley south, passing 

45. Woodlawn Cemetery. Among the 66,000 interments are 
those of Admiral Farragut and Lieutenant De Long. The Receiving 
Vault occupies the site of the Valentine Farmhouse. In the south- 
east corner of the cemetery is an American redoubt thrown up by 
American troops under General Heath. 



193 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




DIAGRAM. 

Excursion IX 



Plate XXXVIII. Routes 31. 33, 34^- 
194 



C. K. 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 31. 

SECTION III— HARLEM RIVER TO HUNT'S POINT. . 

(Figures refer to Plates XXXV and XXXVIII). 

At One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Street, foot of the Third Avenue 
Elevated Road, take Fordham trolley, passing, at 
Third Avenue and One Hundred and Thirty- 
sixth Street 

46. The old Mott Mansion, formerly the home of the founders 
of Mott Haven. It is now^ used as two tenements. '' 

47. The Mott Memorial Dutch Reformed Church, at Third 
Avenue and One Hundred and Forty-fifth Street, erected by 
Jordan L. Mott about 1849. 

Go east to St. Ann's Avenue and south to 

48. St. Ann's Episcopal Church, at St. Ann's Avenue and One 
Hundred and Fortieth Street, contains a memorial window and 
several tablets in memory of the Morris family. The church was 
a gift from Gouverneur Morris. The vaults in the grounds and 
below the church contain the remains of many distinguished 
members of the family, including Mrs. Morris, a. lineal descend- 
ant of Pocahontas. 

Go south to One Hundred and Thirty-third Street and take Southern 
Boulevard trolley east. 

49. Site of Gouverneur Morris Mansion (line of One Hundred and Thirtieth 
Street and Cypress Avenue), lately destroyed, the home of the Morris family 
of Morrisania, where Lafayette and other notable persons were entertained. 
It was filled with relics, including Morris' wooden leg. Gouverneur Morris, 
the statesman, soldier and diplomat, owned 1920 acres of Bronx real estate. 
Indian pits have been discovered under the lawn north of the house. Close 
by is the site of the home of Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. See fine cypress trees at the corner; hence the name of the av- 
enue. 

Just west, near the beginning of Bronx Kills, is 

50. The site of the home of Jonas Bronck, the first settler in the Bronx, 
1639 (see Historical Sketch). The house had a tiled roof and Bronck " used 
real silver on his table, had a table cloth and napkins, and possessed as many 
as six linen _ shirts." At this house, which was like a miniature fort, the 
treaty was signed by the Dutch with the Weckquaeskeek sachems, Ranaqua 
and Tackamuck, 1642. 

In the Morris High School, at One Hundred and Sixty-sixth 
Street and Boston Avenue, are two mural paintings by Edward 
Willard (presented by the Municipal Art Society in 1907) rep- 
resenting (i) the making of the Treaty of Peace between the 
Dutch and Indians in 1642 at the house of Jonas Bronck and (2) 
Gouverneur Morris before the Convention framing the National 
Constitution. 

195 



Route 31 HISTORICAL GUIDE Hunt's 

Passing Port Morris, the car goes near Leggett Avenue, formerly Leggett's 
Lane, along which the British marched, passing a deep cave near the Long- 
wood Club House where the Americans had, while in flight, hidden the bodies 
of some of their companions. On the right is the site of the Whitlock or 
Casanova Mansion (1859), in its day one of the most magnificent houses in 
America. The door knobs were of solid gold and the house had secret rooms 
and underground passages. Just beyond, the Boulevard crosses Lafayette 
Lane, Under the trees to the right was an old structure called the " Kissing 
Bridge." 

Leave the car at Hunt's Point Road, cross the railroad bridge and 

follow this road to the East River and back (a little more 

than three miles round trip) passing on the right 

51. The site of the Locusts, of Revolutionary days, the home of the tutor 
of the Faile family, who formerly taught in the family of Sir Walter Scott. 
Beyond is 

52. The site of Woodside, built in 1832, the residence of the late E. G. 
Faile. 

Beyond is the east end of Lafayette Avenue, formerly the narrow Lafayette 
Lane. In 1824 the French general traveled from Boston to New York via 
Fox Corners, presumably to stay at one of the Leggett houses on Hunt's Point. 
George Fox was one of the marshals of a delegation of New York citizens to 
meet and escort him. The lane was thus named in his honor. Lafayette is 
said to have " ])aused in silent meditation at the grave of Joseph Rodman 
Drake.'" On the south side of Lafayette Avenue stands 

53. The Corpus Christi Monastery. Adjoining Is the extensive 
new Children's Home. Across Hunt's Point Road is 

54. Sunnyside, one of the finest residences in the Bronx, the 
former home of Peter Hoe. Note the view of Manhattan, show- 
ing St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 
St. Luke's Hospital, Columbia Library and Grant's Tomb. A 
short distance below Cherry Lane branches off, leading to the 
Leggett Dock near the foundations of an old Leggett house. 
Further along, nearer the Sound, is the site of Blythe, formerly 
the residence of Francis J. Baretto, after whom Baretto's Point 
was named. It was of Revolutionary date and when its inside 
shutters were closed, it was a miniature fortress. Near by is 

55. The George Fox Mansion, erected about 1848, with its 
square tower. 

Down in the field to the right are the sites of the Jessup and Richardson 
Houses, near the ancient spring. In 1660, Ciovernor Nicolls granted i,ooo acres 
in this region to Edward Jessup and John Richardson, who had bought it 
from the Indians. Among their descendants were the Hunts, after whom the 
point is named, and thev were related to the early Leggetts. 

In the field opposite, on the long slope below the Spofford Mansion, see the 
site of the 

Leggett burying-ground, whence ten bodies of early settlers were removed, 
one being that of Mayor Leggett of Westchester. 

On the left, beyond the curve in the road, is the 

56. Hunt Burying Ground, containing the grave of Joseph 
Rodman Drake, author of "The Culprit Fay," "Bronx" and 
"Ode to the American Flag." The stone is "a modest shaft, 
half hidden by the tangle of bushes and wild flowers that border the 
road, marking the grave of a poet who knew and loved our ov.ii 

196 



Point THE BRONX 31 Route 

neighborhood in the early days when all was country-like and 
the city far away." The inscription reads : 

Sacred to the Memory of 

Joseph Rodman Drake, M. D., 

who died Sept. 21st, 1820., 

" None knew him but to love him; 

None named him but to praise." 

The burying-ground is to be included in the new Joseph 
Rodman Drake Park. See the ancient gravestones of the earliest 
members of the Hunt family. Among the relics of the old Hunt 
Inn is a pane of glass from one of the windows on which is 
written with a diamond the names of Drake and Nancy Leggett, 
joined at the end with a bracket and the single word " Love." 
The poet was a lineal descendant of the colonial Drakes, settlers 
of Eastchester. 

Across the road is the 

Graveyard of the slaves of early residents, among them being 
"Bill,"' the colored pilot of the Hussar (see 83). Further down on 
the left across the bridge are 

57. Lord Howe's Intrenchments among a group of trees. In 
the gravel pit on the east side have been found prehistoric stone im- 
plements. Close by is an old cave, declared to have been a Revolu- 
tionary powder house. At the extreme end of the Point is the 

58. Hunt Mansion, dating back to 1688, and built in four sec- 
tions as the residents gradually added to their wealth, the most 
ancient house on the estate which for two centuries has been 
known as Hunt's Point. Among the welcome guests here were 
Drake and Halleck. 

Return by nezv Hunt's Point Road to Southern Boulevard along which 
near Fox Square, see 

59. Fox Corners. Here is the Foxhurst Mansion, built in 1848 
by the late W. W. Fox, one of original Croton Aqueduct Com- 
missioners. Back of this stood the old Hunt Inn, erected in 1660, a 
noted tavern, the starting place of countless fox hunts and the ren- 
dezvous of the Red Coat officers. 

When burned in 1892, many interesting relics were found in 
its walls. 



197 



Route 31 HISTORICAL GUIDE Ambleside 

60. Ambleside, opposite 59, formerly the residence of the 
Simpson family, and the site of Brightside, the country seat of the 
late Colonel R. M. Hoe, inventor of the rotary printing press. 

Return by Subway from Simpson Street Station. 



198 




St. Paul's Church, Eastchester 

PoE Cottage, Fordham 

Photographed by Randall Comfort 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 32. 

SECTION IV— WESTERN MORRISANIA, FORDHAM AND 

BRONX PARK. 

(Figures refer to Plates XXXV, XXXVI and XXXIX). 

Take Third Avenue Elevated Road to One Hundred and Sixty-sixth 

Street, or Subway to One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street 

and Third Avenue Elevated Road to One Hundred 

Sixty-sixth Street. Go west on One Hundred 

and Sixty-seventh Street. 

61. Old Stone Gate House, below One Hundred and Sixty- 
seventh Street, west of Third Avenue. This is the oldest build- 
ing in Morrisania and the only one standing that was there be- 
fore the village was formed in 1848. 

62. Wm. H. Morris Mansion, near Findlay Avenue, built in 
1816, near the site of an older house erected in 1795 by James 
Morris. Just west is 

63. The Morris Farmhouse, dating from 1792, a quaint stone 
structure, partly destroyed. 

Take trolley north on Webster Avenue, passing 

64. The Zbrowski Mansion, the present headquarters of the 

Bronx Park Department, a solid stone building in Claremont 

Park. It was built in 1859, and is evidently on the site of an 

older building dating about 1676. 

Beyond is the famous Black Swamp, where cattle have been lost since the 
time of the Indians, and which for years defied the efforts of all contractors 
to fill up. 

Continue north on Webster Avenue, transfer east on Tremont Av- 
enue, passing near the site of the Bathgate Mansion 
Homestead, and north on Third Avenue Trolley. 

At One Hundred and Seventy-sixth street is the site of the Bathgate Avenue 
House, a very old structure, recently destroyed. 

65. The Jacob Lorillard House, in the grounds of the Home 
for Incurables at One Hundred and Eighty-second Street, now 
the home of the Medical Superintendent. Here Poe once re- 
cited " The Raven." Just below, at Oak Tree Place, was the 
celebrated oak tree where met the boundaries of the ancient 
manors of Morrisania, Fordham and the Jessup-Richardson Patent. 
Leave trolley at Pelham Avenue and walk east to Washington Avenue. 

66. Powell Farm House, Fordham's oldest house, said to be 
haunted. 

199 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




DIAGRAM 

SECTION 4. EXC IX 



Plate XXXIX. Routes 32, 34a. 
200 



C. K. 



Fordham THE BRONX 32 Route 

67. Stenton Residence, scene of the recent murder (1906), 
having secret rooms. In the rear stood an old barn, recently 
burned, said to have sheltered Washington's horses during the 
Revolution. In front is the great Stenton Willow, 300 years 
old. 

Walk west to Fordham Square. 

68. Nolan's Hotel, where Washington is said to have stopped 
when he stabled his horses in the Stenton barn. 

Walk west up the hill along the Kingshridge Road to the 

69. Poe Cottage, where Edgar Allen Poe lived (1846-49) and 
wrote many of his poems, including " Annabel Lee," " Ulalume " 
and " Eureka." Here Virginia, his invalid wife, died and was 
buried from the Fordham Manor Dutch Reformed Church {:},2). 
In Poe Park, directly opposite the cottage, is a bust of Poe 
with an inscription, erected by the Bronx Society of Arts and 
Sciences on the centenary of his birth, January 19, 1909. 

In the Cromwell House (near 69), lived an old lady who sup- 
plied Poe with the necessities of life during his deepest poverty. 

70. Valentine Farmhouse, further west on Fordham road, near 
Concourse, remodeled into a modern residence. 

Go back to Webster Avenue and take northbound car, passing on the 

right 

71. The grounds of Fordham University, or St. John's College 
(founded 1841), where was once Rose Hill Manor on which 
stands the Rose Hill Manor Farmhouse; formerly here stood the 
Rose Hill Manor House, 1693. Here was born Andrew Corsa, the 
last of the famous Westchester guides to Washington and Rocham- 
beau. 

Leave the trolley at Bronx Park Station (passing enroute the Jacob 
Berrian House) and visit the 

72. Botanical Museum ; open 9-5, see Appendix D. 
7Z' Horticultural Hall. 

74. Hemlock Grove (Forest Congress). 

75. The Indian Well (Bath or Basin). 

76. Lorillard Fall. 

yy. Lorillard Mansion Museum; open 2-5 p. m. (free), under 
the auspices of the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences; histori- 
cal relics, photographs and objects of natural History, see Appen- 
dix D. 

20t 



I 

Route 32 HISTORICAL GUIDE Bronx Park \ 

78. Old Fashioned Flower Garden (Pierre Lorillard's famous 
"Acre of Roses")- 

79. The Lorillard Snuff Mill. 

80. Zoological Gardens; open 9-5, see Appendix D. 

81. The Rocking Stone, near the restaurant. 

Return via Subway from One Hundred and Eightieth Street Station. 



202 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 33. 

SECTION v.— THROGG'S NECK. 
(Figures refer to Plates XXXVIII and XL). 

Party of 15 adults may secure pass in advance from Commandant, 
Ft. Schuyler, to go on Government boat Tuesdays, Thursdays or 
Saturdays. 

Take Government boat for Fort Schuyler, passing en route 

82. Port Morris, where the Great Eastern anchored after her 
first trip to New York. Close by the 

8.-?. British Friprate-of-war Hussar sank (Nov. 23, 1780"), reported laden 
with a mass of British gold and American prisoners. Numerous attempts 
have been made to recover the treasure, but in vain. 

Copper rivets of the American prisoners' manacles, projectiles and parts of 
the ship's woodwork have been found (56). 

84. North and South Brothers Islands, the former containing 
the City Isolation Hospital. A few feet off this shore, on June 15, 
1904, sank the ill-fated General Slocum. 

58. Hunt's Point, where can be seen the old Hunt Mansion 
(1688). On this neck lies buried Joseph Rodman Drake (56). 

85. Bronx River. During the Revolution the British fleet re- 
ceived orders " to proceed up the Bronx and attack the Yankees 
in hiding above!" An English officer reported, "We have 
crossed the Bronx without the loss of a single man!" 

86. Clason's Point, where Thos. Cornell settled in 1643. 

An ancient stone farmhouse, formerly standing close to the shore was shelled 
by Lord Howe's fleet as the ships passed enroute to Throgg's Neck, October, 
1776. 

Some of the stones have found their way into the structure 
of the Clason's Point Inn, part of which is the house con- 
structed by Cornell in 1643 and burned by the Indians the same 
year. 

87. Screven's Point (mouth of Westchester Creek), where 
may be seen the Wilkins Farmhouse and the Wilkins Home- 
stead. Here the Sewanoe Indians had a fortified castle, whence 
the name " Castle Hill." At this point Adrian Block saw Indians 
and their wigwams on his voyage of discovery (1614). Within 
the Wilkins Homestead several Loyalist clergymen, including 
Rev. Isaac Wilkins, rector of St. Peter's, and Right Rev. Samuel 
Seabury, the Bishop, were hidden in a secret chamber, their 
food being lowered to them through a trap door. 

-^03 



Route 33 HISTORICAL GUIDE Ft. Schuyler 

88. Zerega's or Ferris (Ferry) Point, called "Grove Siah's " 
by its colonial owner, Josiah Hunt, whose father, Thomas Hunt, 
received a patent for it from Governor Nicolls. On this point 
stands the Ferris Mansion built 1687, said to be the oldest house 
in the Bronx. 

89. Throgg's Point, styled in old records " Frog's Point," at 
the extremity of which stands Fort Schuyler, where the boat 
lands. The fort was established in 1833. Throgg is an abbrevia- 
tion of Throckmorton, the name of a colonist who settled here 
in 1642, obtaining his "land brief" from the Dutch. One of his 
companions was Roger Williams. 



204 



THE BRONX 
ROUTE 33a. 
SIDE TRIP TO WESTCHESTER VILLAGE. 
(Figures refer to Plate XL), 
This involves a walk or drive of five miles unless points 92-95 are 
omitted, in which case two miles may be saved by taking the 
trolley from the junction of Fort Schuyler Road and Eastern Boule- 
vard direct to 96. 

Follozv the Throgg's Neck or Fort Schuyler Road to the Eastern 
Boulevard, passing 
On the left the extensive Havemeyer estate, where the British, un- 
der Howe, landed for their attack on Westchester, October 12, 1776. 

90. Hammond House, under the great trees near Pennyfield 
Road, erected in 1800 by Abijah Hammond and recently re- 
modeled. Beyond the fence is 

91. The Roberts Homestead, former home of the founder 
of Roberts College, Constantinople. Across the lane is the Van 
Schaick Mansion, in the grounds of which is a cedar of Le- 
banon, declared to be the finest specimen of its kind in the United 
States. 

To the west is the country home of the late Collis P. Huntington. 
Take trolley to Westchester (omiting 92-95) or follozv the Eastern 
Boulevard to the Middletown Road, passing 

92. Ferris Mansion, in the Westchester Country Club grounds, 
used as Lord Howe's headquarters after the landing at Throgg's 
Neck, October, 1776. Mhrks on the staircase are said to have been 
made by the hoof of one of the officer's horses. The house was saved 
from destruction by the British fleet through the heroism of the mis- 
tress who calmly walked up and down the veranda. 

To the west is the original 

93. Ferris House, owned for a time by the early settlers of 
that name. 

Follozv the Eastern Boulevard a*id the Pelham (Appleton) Road, turn 
north a short distance, and see 

94. The Spy Oak, said to be the largest of its kind east of the 
Rockies. A British spy is supposed to have been hanged from it 
during the Revolution and there is much legendary lore connected 
with the old forest monarch. 

95. The Paul House, just north, is one of the oldest land- 
marks of the region. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XL. Routes 33, 33a. 



C. K. 



Westchester THE BRONX 3:a Route 

Return to Pclliam Road and cross the 

96. Westchester Creek Causeway, where, on October 12th. 
1776, was fought an important battle between the Americans under 
Heath and the British under Howe. The patriots ripped up the plank- 
ing of the old causeway just before the .enemy reached the spot, and 
greeted their approach with a volley, repulsing them. Two days later 
the English brought up their cannon and began a fortification where 
the Westchester Presbyterian Church now stands, but withdrew their 
troops and guns a few days later. Howe then sought to join with 
the Hessians near New Rochelle, a feat accomplished only after a 
desperate struggle with Glover at Pelham's Neck. (See Section VI 
and "The Battle of Pelham Neck:" Abbott.) 

Westchester Village was called by the Dutch Oost-Dorp and 
the whole region was known as Vredeland, or Land of Peace. The 
village is the oldest in the county, having been first settled by the 
Puritans in 1650. The site was purchased from the Indians in 1654 
by Thomas Pell, and was described as " all that tract of land called 
Westchester." 

97. Bowne House, west of the causeway, once used as a store. 

98. St. Peter's Church, on Westchester Avenue, fourth build- 
ing on this site, the first having been erected in 1700. The chime 
of bells is said to have been presented to the church in the time 
of Queen Anne. The churchyard contains stones dating back to 
1813. Beyond the Sunday School building is the site of a Quaker 
Meeting House, while another stood just west. Both were 
destroyed by fire, it is said, on the same night. Near by flows 
the Indian Brook, on the banks of which the celebrated George 
Fox is said to have addressed the first Quaker meeting held in 
America (1672). To the west is 

99. St. Peter's Rectory (opposite Glebe Avenue) standing on 
land forming part of the " Ancient Glebe," given by the town in 
1703. 

Return by trolley to the Third Avenue Elevated or Subway. 
N. B. If the water trip to Fort Schuyler is omitted, take West- 
chester Avenue trolley from One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street Sta- 
tion of the Suburban Branch of the Elevated Road, or the Subway 
Station at One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street and Melrose Avenue, 
arid reverse the order of points. 



207 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate XLI. Route 34. 
208 



C. K. 



THE BRONX 

ROUTE 34. 

SECTION VI —CITY ISLAND AND PELHAM BAY PARK. 

(Figures refer to Plate XLI). 

(Latter part of trip recommended as a carriage or bicycle trip, as it 
involves between 4 and 5 miles walking.) 

At One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Street station of the Third Av- 
enue Elevated take Harlem River Branch of the New Haven 
R. R. to Bartow (trains leave 15 minutes before every hour). 
At Bartozv take horse car for City Island, passing 
100. Glover's Rock. Read the tablet — (erected by the Mt. Ver- 
non Chapter of the D. A. R. in 1901), describing the Battle of Pell's 
Point (Oct. 18, 1776), which began near this rock, when 750 men 
under Colonel Glover detained Howe long enough for Washington 
to reach White Plains in safety. Cannon-balls were found here when 
the railroad track was being constructed, and a distinctly marked 
Indian pot-hole was discovered. 

loi. Site of Indian biirying-ground, where Indian remains have 
been found. There were two Indian villages on this neck, one near 
the Eastern Boulevard and one on the very extremity of Pelham 
(Rodman's) Neck. Before crossing the bridge see the 

102. Marshall Mansion, or Colonial Inn. While crossing the 
new bridge, see just north of the present structure the approaches 
of the 

103. Old City Island Bridge, originally spanning the Harlem 
at Harlem Village, some of the timbers having been taken from the 
old frigate man-of-war " North Carolina." Previous to its erection 
here, City Island was reached by ferry. 

City Island, " the Pearl of the Sound," or " Gem of the Ocean," 
received its present name because a city was planned here to outstrip 
New York. It is said that the oyster culture started here. Note the 
rural appearance of streets and houses. 

From the end of the car line, walk on to the end of the island, pass- 
ing on the left the 

104. Horton Homestead, the oldest house on the island. Most 
of City Island was once comprised in the Horton Farm. Close 
by is the Belden Mansion, with extensive grounds, at Belden's 
Point. To the shipyard here some of America's Cup Defenders 
are sent to be broken up into scrap-iron. 

209 



Route 34 HISTORICAL GUIDE City Island 

From the dock see about one mile south 

105. Stepping Stones Light, so called from its location on one 
of the " Devil's Stepping Stones," an irregular line of rocks jutting 
out into the Sound. xA.ccording to an old legend the Evil One made 
his retreat over these stones from Westchester County to Long Island 
to escape the vengeance of his Indian foes. Heaping up all the stones 
he could find in Long Island at Cold Spring, he hurled them at his 
enemies in Westchester, thus accounting for the number of boulders 
in Westchester and the freedom from them in Long Island. In a 
boulder southeast of Eastchester may be seen the likeness of a foot 
said to be the Devil's imprint. 

Returning go to the right at Ditmar's Street to see the 

106. Macedonia Hotel, on the eastern shore. Read the in- 
scription which states that the wing is part of an English frigate 
"Macedonia " captured by Decatur during the War of 1812. Visit 
the old cabin and see the mast-hole, hammock-hooks and iron 
ring to fasten the guns, also the officers' staterooms. 

See from here Hart's Island, the " Potter's Field " of New York 
City. 

Take the car hack to Barton, and follow the Eastern Boulevard about 
half a mile north to the 

107. Bartow Mansion, the summer home of the Crippled Chil- 
dren's Associatio4i. 

Not far away is the site of the original Pell Manor House, though some 
sav that it was on the extreme end of Pelham Neck. Many tales are told of 
this house, under the title of " Mysteries of a Pelham Farm House." 

In the center of a large field in front are the remains of the 

108. Pell Treaty Oak, the famous tree where Thomas Pell 
in 1654 signed the treaty with the Sewanoe Indians, purchasing about 
10,000 acres from them (see Comfort's History of the Bronx, p. 53). 

Between the Bartow Mansion and the Sound is the 

109. Pell Family Burial-ground. Note the four (m.odern) 
stone corner-posts, with the emblem of the Pell family, A Pelican 
Gorged, and each bearing a different inscription. Read the inscrip- 
tion on the large centre-stone. 

Return to the Boulevard and continue to the white stone gate-posts 

leading to 

I TO. Hunter's Island, where see the Hunter-Iselin Mansion, 
summer home of " The Little Mothers." On the southeast side of 
the island arc said to be the great Indian rock Mishow and the graves 

210 



Split Rock THE BRONX 34 Route 

of two Indian sachems. The Indian name for this region was 
Laaphawachking (the place of stringing beads). 

Take the right-hand road over to Hunter's Island leading to the 

111. Twin Island, on the second of which stands the Ogden 
Mansion. From this point a fine marine view may be enjoyed. 
Return on the Boulevard to Prospect Hill Avenue (Split Rock Road). 
along which Glover's gallant men so stubbornly resisted the advanc- 
ing British. 

Follow Split Rock Road to the 

112. Collins House, or John Joshua Pell Mansion, one of the 
Pell homes. 

113. Split Rock is a gigantic boulder, cleft squarely in twain, 
a good sized tree growing in the crevice. Tradition states that the 
early home of Ann Hutchinson (for whom the Hutchinson River is 
named) was near this spot. She came here in 1642 with her younger 
children and her son-in-law, and in the same year her cabin was 
burned by the Indians, and all but one of her family were killed, her 
eight-year-old daughter escaping, only to be captured. Some say 
she perished on the crest of Split Rock. 

Cross the City Line and continue to Boston Road; then follow Wolf's 
Lane, line of the American retreat. 
At the corner of this lane and Boston Road is another 

114. Pell House, remodeled and modernized. At the foot of 
the hill is 

115. The stately stone Pell Mansion, perhaps the finest of 
all, with its splendid columns and iron lattice-work, and the family 
coat of-arms. In the woods near by is the 

116. Lord Howe Chestnut, where Howe and his generals 
lunched on Oct. 18, 1776, while resting during their pursuit of the 
Americans. Some say that they lunched at the Pell House (114), tak- 
ing the old lady's last turkey. 

117. Hutchinson River Bridge, where the battle of Pell's 
Point ended and the day was saved for Washington. This bridge is 
on the line of the original Boston Road, opened in 1672. 

Take trolley to Mt. Vernon. 



211 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



ROUTE 34a. 

SECTION VII.— EASTERN MORRISANIA AND WEST 
FARMS TO EASTCHESTER. 

(Figures refer to Plates XXXV, XXXVII, XXXVIII and XXXIX). 

From West Farms to Eastchester involves a walk of about five miles. 
Take Third Avenue Elevated Road to Lenox Avenue, Subway 
Express to One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street and Third Av- 
enue and change to north-hound West Farms trolley, running 
along Third Avenue (formerly the old Post Road) and Boston 
Road to West Farms, passing on the right at One Hundred and 
Fifty-sixth Street the site of the 

Old school house where many of the children of the early residents received 
their first training. Near the Thirty-sixth Precinct Station the Avenue turns 
to the right, crossing where once flowed old Mill Brook, the division line in 
thousands of titles for real estate. On its banks once stood the old Morrisania 
mill, thus giving it the title of Saw Mill Brook. At One Hundred and Sixty- 
first Street is the new Court House on the site of the old Hammer Hotel. 
West on Third Avenue, near One Hundred and Sixty-third Street, stood the 
shingled Georgi House, one of the three buildings standing on Gouverneur Morris' 
farm in 1848 when he sold it to be cut up into building lots to form the village of 
Morrisania. Here the car climbs the steep hill of Boston Road. What is now 
Third Avenue north of this point was once the narrow and shaded Fordham 
Lane, extending through the fields and woods of the Morris farm. 

At Boston Road and Cauldwell Avenue, below One Hundred and Sixty-sixth 
Street, was Pudding Rock, a gigantic glacial boulder where the Indians held 
their corn feasts, and under the cool shade of which the tired Huguenots 
paused to rest on their long Sabbath journey from New Rochelle to New 
York. 

118. The Tenth Milestone, at One Hundred and Sixty-eighth 
Street, marks the distance from the English City Hall on Wall 
Street. 

Opposite Union Avenue is the site of the Jennings Homestead, known also 
as the Drovers' Inn and the Old Stone Jug, built in the middle of the i8th 

Century. 

119. At McKinley Square, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street 
and Boston Road, see the flag-pole and tablets on trees in mem- 
ory of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley; note also Civil War 
mortar and cannon balls. 

On the east side of the junction with Minford Place is the site of The Spy 
House. In this little building, it is said, lived an American spy who played 
in the neighborhood the part of Cooper's spy at Mamaroneck. Where the 
Southern Boulevard crosses may be seen the 

120. Old Hunt House where Washington stayed over night 
while holding an important conference with a spy. 

Leave the car at One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Street and go 

north to One Hundred and Eightiet'h Street, 

212 



West Farms THE BRONX 34a Route 

West Farms preserves the appearance of a country village. 
Just below rises the stone Crowther Homestead, dated about 
1816, containing interesting carved white marble mantels. Poe 
was a frequent visitor here. 

At the right pass the site of the DeLancey Block House, a noted place for 
the Royalists until destroyed in a midnight attack by Aaron Burr during the 
winter of 1779. It stood on the land of the Peabody Home (One Hundred and 
Seventy-ninth Street), the building preceding which was known as the Uncle 
Daniel Mapes Temperance House. 

Near One Hundred and Eightieth Street stands the venerable 

Purdy Mansion, dating from 1820. Two blocks west on One 

Hundred and Eightieth Street is the old 

121. West Farms Presbyterian Church, built 1804, opposite the 
new Beck Memorial. Many veterans of the Civil War are inter- 
red in the old church cemetery. While excavating near by, the 
skeleton of a Revolutionary officer was found, clad in Continen- 
tal regimentals. 

At the lower end of Bronx Park, see ruins of 

122. Ly dig's Mills, built in early times. Just north stood the quaint John- 
son's Tavern, an ancient inn where the stage-coach from Boston to New York 
stopped to change horses. 

Go north along the cast side of the Bronx through the Park. 

123. DeLancey Pine, 150 feet high, in the thick branches of 
which the American sharpshooters used to hide while picking off 
the British in the DeLancey Block House. 

" Memorial of the fallen great, 
The rich and honored line. 
Stands high in solitary state 
DeLancey's ancient pine." 

124. Fording Place where all travelers had to wade their steeds 
through the river. Beyond is the old hamlet of Bronxdale, near 
which is 

Bear Swamp (so-called because long the haunt of bears), on the site 
of a Sewanoe Lidian village which remained until 1789. 
Cross the broad Pclham Parkway; continue north on the Boston 
Road through S pence fs Corners. 

In the woods to the left is the 

125. Underbill Burying Ground, said to have been bought by 
that family from the Indians. A mile beyond is an old house on 
the height of ground from which may be obtained a fine view of 
the surrounding country. 

126. 15th Mile Stone, near Two Hundred and Twenty-second 
Street. Half a mile further 

213 



Route 34a HISTORICAL GUIDE Eastchester 

Cross Rattlesnake Brook into Eastchester. 

127. Rattlesnake Brook was named from the reptiles which flourished here, 
one six feet in length being slain as late as i775- Bears, deer and wolves 
abounded in Eastchester and the remains of a large wolf pit are still visible 
on the Purdy Estate. 

Follow Eden Terrace west to 

128. Seton Falls, the great Seton Cave, the Indian Hiding Place 

and some Indian Fortifications^ all concealed in the dense woods, now 
close to the new Ime of Two Hundred and Thirty-third Street. 

Village of Eastchester, one of the oldest in this section. On 
all sides are evidences of Indian occupation, quantities of arrow 
and spear heads being found all about. Wigwams occupied the 
site of the old Morgan Residence, while a fortified castle of the 
Sewanoes stood on the hill behind the Fowler Mansion; on this 
same hill the early settlers erected in 1675 a "General Fort" 
for mutual protection. 

On the right of the road may be seen Odell's Barns dating 
from Revolutionary days, now almost in ruins. 

Walk down Mill Lane to the 

129. Reid's Miller's House. On the marshes stood the famous 
Reid's Mill, a tide-mill which once ground grain for the farmers 
for miles around. It was built in 1739. 

Return to the Post Road and go north on Provost Avenue or White 

Plains Road. 

130. Vincent-Halsey House, the smaller portion being of Revo- 
lutionary date. Nearby was the old Guion Inn, a Revolutionary 
tavern where Washington once stopped and mentioned in his diary 
that these roads were " immensely rough and stony." 

131. Groshon House, a quaint old landmark, the former resi- 
dence of a Huguenot family, " Gros-Jean." 

132. St. Paul's Church, built in 1765, opposite the site of the 
first building erected in 1699. During the Revolution St. Paul's 
was used as a British hospital. See the historical collection, 
which includes an old Prayer Book and Bible. These, together 
with the great bell, were buried during the war in the Vincent- 
Ilalsey grounds. After the war, while the old church was used 
as a court of justice, Aaron Burr pleaded here many causes. 

The lawn opposite St. Paul's Church was the colonial village 
green. Here stood the first church structure, erected 1699, and 
used as fuel by the British while occupying the present build- 
ing. Here were also the village stocks, dating from 1720. In 

214 



St. Paul's THE BRONX 34a Route 

the locust trees which still stand was fastened the iron staple 
to which criminals were tied to receive punishment. 

St. Paul's Churchyard, containing 6,000 bodies. Note the quaint 
inscriptions on the tombstones, the oldest being dated 1704. 

Return by trolley to Mount Vernon and train to New York. 
N B. Section VII could begin here, the route being reversed. 



215 



NOTES 



216 



NOTES 



217 



NOTES 



2/8 



PART THREE 

ROROrCll OF BROOKLYN 
KXCURSlOxNS Xll AND Vlll— ROUTl-S 35-43. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



KEY MAP 




Plate XLII. Brooklyn and Queens. C. A 



220 



EXCURSION NO. XIT— HISTORIC BROOKLYN. PART 2. 
By George W. Nash, M. D. 

Copyright, 1909, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




222 



HISTORIC BROOKLYN 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

" History of New York," by Brodhead. 

"Historic New York" (Half Moon Papers), by M. W. Goodwin. 

" Historic Homes on Long Island," by Henry Whittemore. 

" History of Long Island," by B. F. Thompson, 2 vols., 1843. 

"Early Long Island," by M. B. Flint, 1896. 

" H-istory of Long Island," by Peter Ross, 3 vols. 1903. 

" Historic Long Island," by R. R. Wilson, 1902. 

" The County of Kings and City of Brooklyn," by H. R. Stiles, 1884. 

" History of the City of Brooklyn," by H. R. Stiles, 3 vols., 1867-70. 

" History of the City of Brooklyn," by S. M. Ostrander, 2 vols., 1894. 

" Historic and Antique Scenes in Brooklyn and its Vicinity," by 

T. W. Field, 1893. 
"The Eagle and Brooklyn," by H. W. B. Howard, 1893. 
" The Prison Ship Martyrs," Captain Fitch's Diary, 1776. 
" History of the Town of Flatbush," by F. M. Strong, 1908. 
"Social History of Flatbush," by G. L. Vanderbilt, 1899. 
"Brooklyn's Gardens" (Flatbush), by C. A. Ditmas, 1908. 
" Chronicles of Erasmus Hall." 

PUBLICATIONS OF THE LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY 

Vol. I. " The Journal of a Voyage to New York and a Tour in 
Several of the American Colonies, in 1679-80." By Jasper Dankers 
and Peter Sluyter (Labadist Journal). Translated and Edited by 
Henry C. Murphy. 

Vol. II. "The Battle of Long Island," by Thomas W. Field, 1869. 

Vol. III. " The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brook- 
lyn," by Henry P. Johnston, 1878. 



223 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




( BroKen Line)= British L ine of j4dyance 

—,—.—.- { ;; ;- /Session Tronpa 

*»mmmm( Crosses)' /Imer/eon Pos//^to/7s 



«J>/ -^^- £&. 



,„,£? 



%^3 



' May HOU3* 



^^^ ^^ it 





ATLANTIC OCEAN. 




Plate XLIIT. Battle of Long Island. C". /v. 

By permission from Stiles' " The County of Kins^s and City of Brooklyn," 
published by W. W. Munsell. (Redrawn). 
Ke\ to the Map 
At Gowanus, where Grant opened the battle with the Americans under 

AmerkTn* position under Sullivan in Greenwood Cemetery, attacked by the 

Hessians under Dellcister. 
Howe's position at the rear of Sullivan. 

Howe's final^position on the American flank, Grant attacking in the front. 
Fort Putnam (now Fort Greene). 
Brooklyn Ferry, line of American retreat. 

224 



BROOKLYN 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BROOKLYN 

The Brooklyn of to-day was made up by the consolidation of several small 
towns, all of which retain in some measure their early characteristics. 

The earliest settlements were in what may be called the Greater Brooklyn: 
those of Bennett and Bentyn at Gowanus in 1636, and that of Rapelje at Wall- 
about in 1637. Other acquisitions were made by purchase from the Indians, 
until the Indian title to all the west end of Long Island was extinguished. Even 
in early days, the population of Manhattan overflowed its own boundaries and 
some of its inhabitants sought the fertile plains of Long Island for their farms 
and homes. This necessitated some means of ready communication, and a ferry 
was established as early as 1651; then, as now, this ferry started from the foot 
of Fulton Street, although the shore lines are not the same as they were at 
that time. 

Difficulties with the Indians on the mainland, brought about by the bad ad- 
ministration of Kieft, extended to Long Island, and the settlements were al- 
most wiped out by Indian forays. Other settlers came later, and a village sprang 
up along the highway to Flatbush, about a mile from the ferry. It was this 
village that was named Breuckelen, for an old town in Holland not far from 
Amsterdam; this was in 1643, when a charter with associated privileges was 
granted. A hamlet grew up also at the ferry and was known as Ferry Village. 

Under the Dutch the settlements progressed slowly. At the time when 
Stuyvesant succeeded Kieft, there was " considerable discontent among his own 
people; jealous neighbors looked with longing eyes on the thrifty farms," and 
the Indians, feeling keenly their past wrongs, were brooding, _ plotting and 
waiting. Stuyvesant's rule was arbitrary and brooked little opposition; still the 
inhabitants obtained some measure of local self-government and the town made 
some advance. Church services were held in 1654, although the town did not 
have a minister of its own until 1660; a market and school were also estab- 
lished. As elsewhere in the colony, slavery existed in a mild form until finally 
abolished in 1825. The Indian outbreak of 1663, which seems to have been a 
general rising, brought from the Dutch farmers the statement that " the town 
could not afford a standing army of 8, 10 or 12 men," the number requested. 

The transition from Dutch to English rule affected the town very little. 
The short period of the Dutch re-occupation (1672-3) was noted chiefly for the 
alacrity with which the farmers took the oath of allegiance and little change 
was experienced when the English again came into possession. In 1675 Brooklyn 
had 60 assessed persons with a valuation of 5204 pounds sterhng. In 1679 a 
little flare-up of Dutch temper was shown when the sturdy inhabitants vented 
their feelings on the Kings Arms in the Court House. Fulton Street, at first 
merely a narrow lane leading from Ferry Village to Breuckelen, was ordered 
regularly laid out (1704) to East Hampton and was to be four rods wide. It 
became part of the first post road through Long Island in 1764 and m 1867 it 
was widened. , , , -r. , • -^ j- j 

In 1784, at the first town meeting after the Revolution, it was discovered 
that all the town records had disappeared, and it is supposed that they were 
removed to England by members of the Rapelje family who sided with the 
British and whose estates had been confiscated. 

The Battle of Long Island 

The British, landing on Long Island in August, 1776, found that the Ameri- 
cans had covered three of the four roads leading to Brooklyn, where forti- 
fications had been thrown up from Gowanus to Fort Putnam, now Fort Greene. 
The fourth, a roundabout way on the Jamaica Road, had been neglected and the 
strategic importance of this pass was at once recognized by the British. General 
Howe sending two detachments under Grant by the shore road to Gowanus 
and a Column of Hessians under DeHeister by the middle pass, himself took 

*^Th?"batt1e^b°egl'n on August 27, when Grant's men met the Americans under 
Stirling and pushed them back toward the position (now covered by Green- 
wood Cemetery) occupied by Sullivan. In the meantime Howe, on reaching 
Howard Half Way House on the Jamaica Road, turned sharply to the west 
and soon came unexpectedly on the rear of Sullivan's men The Hessians, 
who had hitherto remained inactive, then pushed hard on the front and the 

225 



Sketch HISTORICAL GUIDE of Brooklyn 

Americans were forced to retreat, Sullivan being captured. Immediately Howe 
sent forward troops against Stirling, while Grant, made aware of this move- 
ment, pressed heavily against them, and here again the Americans, caught in a 
trap, were compelled to retreat, losing Stirling. The day of disaster to the 
Americans closed with an exhibition of devoted bravery on the part of the Mary- 
land regiment who held back the British until their struggling companions could 
reach safety. The British did not push the advantage gained and thus gave 
Washington opportunity, under cover of a fog, to transport all his men safely 
to New York. 



The British kept possession of Brooklyn and occupied it until the end of the 
war. With a number of regiments quartered here, the people felt martial rule 
keenly, as the gay life of .the soldiers contrasted strongly with the condition 
of the patriots and a scene of waste and desolation was revealed after the 
evacuation. During this period the first Brooklyn newspaper was issued. 

In spite of the presence of the British and of the general apathy of the 
people, there were men patriotic enough to loan the government large sums of 
money, through the medium of American prisoners of war. After the evacuation 
the town slowly pulled itself together; new ferries were established, churches 
and schools organized, mills started, a fire department introduced and a bridge 
to New York suggested. At a town meeting of the trustees held just prior to 
the act of incorporation in 1816, it was decided that the usual supper at the 
end of the deliberations should be at individual expense and not a public 
charge. Incorporation put a stimulus on the people and the shiftless village 
grew steadily in importance and character until in 1834 a city charter was 
granted. As a city, Brooklyn made a quiet and substantial growth, expanding 
slowly to meet new conditions until in 1840 it covered 12 square miles, with a 
population of 30,000. 

In 1854 Williamsburg and Bushwick were absorbed and in course of time the 
neighboring towns of Flatbush, Gravesend, New Utrecht, New Lots and Flat- 
lands were annexed, so that at the time of its own incori)oration with New 
York in 1898, Brooklyn had an area of 50,000 acres and a population of nearly 
1,000,000. 

In 1909 the city had 396 Protestant and 97 Roman Catholic Churches, besides 
31 synagogues, thus entitling her to be called the " City of Churches." The 
immense docking facilities show the energy of her business men, while their 
philanthropic impulses may ^ be seen in many directions. 

N. B. For deta-led accounts of the former villages named above see Sections 
I, II and III, and Excursion VIII. 



226 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 35a. 
SECTION I.— WILLIAMSBURG 

Take Grand Street car from Manhattan side of the Williamsburg 

Bridge. 

Note, while crossing, the Queensboro Bridge and Blackwell's 
Island to the left. The city has utilized the space under the ap- 
proaches to the bridge from the Williamsburg Plaza as a play- 
ground for children. See on the left in the Plaza the equestrian 
statue of Washington, presented to the city by ex-Register James 
R. Howe; it was designed by Henry W. Shrady and cost $50,000. 
The Plaza is the starting point for cars running in every direction. 

Williamsburg. The village, named for Colonel Williams, U. 
S. A., who surveyed the land, was begun soon after the Revolu- 
tion. In 1792 a New York merchant named Woodhull established 
a horse ferry from Grand Street to this section and the village 
clustered around the ferry. It grew rapidly, due to natural advan- 
tages, nearness to New York, and convenience to the farmers 
of the interior. A second ferry was started soon after and the 
rivalry thus induced stimulated growth. A church was organ- 
ized, a school and a distillery were added and many improvements 
followed. The village secured a charter in 1827, and in 1829 it 
had a population of 1007. Then came speculation and the crash 
of 1837, after which the town settled down to steady growth and 
prosperity. In 1849 it became a city, and in 1852 it had a popu- 
lation of 40,000; in 1854 it was annexed to Brooklyn. The neces- 
sary expansion of New York City to accommodate its increasing 
population, together with the erection of the bridge, has com- 
pletely changed the farms of old Williamsburg to a compactly 
built city. 



227 



Route 



35a 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Williamsburg 




Plate XLIV. 



C. K. 



Nearly all the old landmarks have disappeared and it is difficult to 
tocate the landmarks of but a few years ago. The Town Hall 
was situated at the corner of Bedford Avenue and South Second 
Street, now occupied by the Brooklyn Union Gas Co. The old 
building was torn down previous to 1874. 

At the corner of Metropolitan and Bedford Avenues is an 
old hip-roofed house and another may be seen at the corner of 
Bedford Avenue and South Third Street. On the opposite side of 
the avenue is a dilapidated brick building, the remains of the 
Pentecostal Tabernacle (demolished 1909). 

228 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 35b. 

SECTION II.— GREENPOINT. 
Take a " Cross Town " car from the Plaza at Williamsburg. 

The earliest settlement at Greenpoint was that of Dirck Volck- 
eitsen in 1645, whose house was on the shore at the foot of the 
present Calyer Street. He was also called Dirck the Norman, 
from which is derived the name of Norman's Kill. Greenpoint 
was known as the " Keike " or " Keikout," meaning " Lookout 
Bluff." 

There was no attempt at any village organization until 1660, 
when the inhabitants were required to concentrate, so as to be 
better prepared against Indian attack. 

The place had several owners; in 1663 the Meserole family 
owned 107 acres; besides this there were patent lands granted by 
the Dutch governors. The town had a quiet history till the Revo- 
lution, when the Hessian allies of the British troops were quar- 
tered among the people. After the declaration of peace there 
were but four or five families in Greenpoint and the place was 
almost apart from the world, except for the row boat ferry con- 
nection with New York. The town has grown steadily since 1832 
and in 1854 it was consolidated with Brooklyn. 

The overflowing population from Manhattan has transformed 
this section from the old time farms to solid blocks of buildings. 
In early days the farmers looked to Bushwick Square for their 
central activities and it was not until 1846-50 that this section 
developed its own public conveniences. Men living to-day have 
trudged to Bushwick to school, driven to Bushwick to church, 
and carried their farm produce to the Bushwick town dock for 
shipment. 

During the middle of the last century ship building was a suc- 
cessful business all along the water front. The people had com- 
munication with New York by means of small row boats from 
various points along the shore, the most important being the 
ferry at the foot of Java Street. 



229 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




3j perm t 55/ on. 



Plate XLV. Greenpoint. 
230 



Greenpoint BROOKLYN 35b Route 



(Figures refer to Plate XLV). 
The most prominent landmarks now to be seen are: 

5. The Meserole Homestead, 1000 Lorimer Street, between 
Meserole and Norman Avenues; originally a typical Dutch farm- 
house, as shown by an old photograph, it has been enlarged until 
nothing now remains of the first structure but the wing which 
was built in i/Sg. 

10. Original building of St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church, 
150 India Street, erected about 1857. It is made of brick and is 
now a wire works factory. 

The first Dutch Reformed Church, built about 1850, was on Java 
Street; the second building, still in use, is on Kent Street, between 
Manhattan and Franklin Avenues. 

HISTORIC SITES. 

1. The Bennett Homestead, later occupied by John Meserole. 

2. Stone house built by Captain Pieter Praa about 1700. 

3. House built by John A. Meserole about 1790. 

4. Location of the house of Dirck Volckertsen, the Norman. The 
first settler on Greenpoint and one of the earliest settlers in Kings 
County. 

7. The Calyer Homestead. 

8. House built by John I. Meserole about 1800. 

9. House occupied by Volckert Dirksen, the eldest son of Dirck 
Volckertsen, and afterwards occupied by Jacob Meserole. 



231 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 35c. 
SECTION III.— BUSHWICK. 
Take Grand Street car from the Manhattan side of IVilliamsburg 
Bridge, transfer to the Metropolitan Avenue car and ride to 
Bushwick Avenue; go north three blocks to old Bushwick Square, 
the centre of the original Dutch village of Bushwick. 

Jan der Swede is the first name connected with the settlement of Bush- 
wick; he came here 1645-50. In 1661 Governor Stuyvesant had the village laid 
out and later gave it the name of " Boswijck," or " Town of the Woods;" at 
the same time he inaugurated some measures of local government. 

The English occupancy disturbed" the Dutch but little, though the new rule 
was more arbitrary than that to which they had been accustomed, especially as 
to church affairs. In 1665 the first sermon was preached here and, in order to 
minister to the spiritual needs of the people, clergymen came from the Flat- 
bush church for over forty years. Previous to 1700, there is mention of a 
" Commons " for the care and watering of cattle. In 1687 Governor Dongan 
granted increased privileges in a new patent. Under the English rule the popu- 
lation grew to about 165, while it had been about 100 during the Dutch control. 
Previous to the Revolution the town was represented in the Provincial Congress 
and had a militia company. After the Battle of Long Island the Hessians, 
quartered on the inhabitants with all that pertains to such an occupancy, kept the 
people in a continued state of irritability. After peace was declared many 
of the Hessians took up residence here. It was joined to Brooklyn in 1854. 
Owing to the impulse of a crowding population, but few landmarks remain, but 
these are of an interesting character. 

(Figures refer to Plate XLVI). 

1. Reformed Church of Bushwick, organized 1654. The first 
church was built in 1709 and the present structure in 1825. 

2. Bushwick Churchyard, containing a few headstones; entrance 
to the left on Humboldt Avenue. Nearby is the site of the 
Bcadcll Homestead, at the corner of Metropolitan and Bushwich 
Avenues. 

The old Wood Point Road, starting at the church, is worthy 
of mention; it was a typical country road, crossing the fields to 
the cemetery near the Devoe House (8), thence across the mea- 
dows and hills to the Town Dock. The first part of the road is 
still in use and is plotted on the map. 

3. Old Town House site, opposite the present church on Wood 
Point Road. Near it men were exposed for punishment; courts 
and elections were held in its rooms; later it became a tavern, 
the town fathers having leased it for such a purpose; finally, it 
was sold and then disappeared. 

Go east on Orient Avenue to 
Cooper Park, given to the city of Brooklyn in 1895 by the 
Cooper family. Behind the comfort house is a brick shed where 
the Coopers experimented in the manufacture of varnish. On 
Morgan Avenue at the rear of the Park are 

4 and 5. Two Cooper Houses, the larger built by William 
Cooper for his own occupancy about i860 and the other built 

232 



Bushv/ick 



BROOKLYN 



35c Route 




DIAGRAM ''^BU5HW\CK 

C'OLO TOWN cEMCTeRT 1 

to □ n D DBS CD , 

\ Withers ^ t >^?1^ . ZlgJil-^ 



J AC K S O N 



T B e N TO 









-Z££ST-- 




Plate XLVI. Route 35c. 



C. K. 



by him for his niece. On Maspeth Avenue, opposite the north 
side of the Park, see 

6. Peter Cooper Tenements; a row of wooden houses with tall 
pillars in the middle of the row, erected by Peter Cooper for his 
workmen. In the rear of the row was the old Cooper Glue Fac- 
tory. 

Peter Cooper was born in 1791 of Revolutionary stock and 
died in 1883. In his youth he mastered a number of trades and 
later entered business, engaging in the manufacture of iron and 
machinery. He constructed the first locomotive engine built in 
this country and was largely instrumental in the laying of the 
Atlantic Cable. His public spirit and philanthropy are best evi- 
denced in Cooper Union, a lasting monument to his memory. 
The two brothers married the Beadell sisters. 



233 



Route 35c HISTORICAL GUIDE Busbwick 

Go north through Ban::ett Street (officially mapped as Debevoise 
Avenue), passing on the right 

7. An old house (painted red) in the middle of the field to the 
east (northeast corner of Maspeth and Morgan Avenues), It was 
built from the timbers taken from the old "Manor House" (9). 

8. Devoe House, a small stone building inside the enclosure 
between Parker and Bennett Streets on Banzett Avenue; en- 
trance on Bennett Street through Trotter's ice-cream factory. 
It is evidently the lower floor of an old Dutch stone house. 
Notice in the living-room the wooden beams in the ceiling and a 
fine example of an old carved mantel. 

C. Nearby is the site of the old Tozvn Cemetery of which no trace 
remains. In 1879 all the bodies were removed to the churchyard and 
the cemetery obliterated. 

At the corner of Meeker and Kingsland Avenues were 

9. The Manor House, sometimes called the Wyckoff House 
(7) and 

10. The Debevoise House and ham. Both houses belonged to 
families prominent in public affairs. The barn was used by the 
Hessians during the Revolution. The Wyckoff House was built 
by Theodorus Polhemus of Flatbush, who represented the town in 
the Provincial Congress from 1775-77. His children sold out to 
the Wyckoff family. The Bushwick branch of the Debevoise 
family is descended from the Huguenot DeBevoise, the first 
school teacher of Brooklyn. 

11. Van Raust House site at 245 Withers Street, near Kings- 
land Avenue. This house was occupied by Captain McPherson, 
leader of the company of men from whom the British obtained 
guides for their expeditions. After peace was declared these 
guides came to Bushwick and encamped there. 

12. Skillman House site, 37 Frost Street, between Lorimer and 
Union Avenues, the house being torn down about 1880. It is said 
that Washington was entertained here. During the stay of the 
guides mentioned (in 11) a party of Americans planned to secure 
some boats belonging to the British. These boats drifted to 
the shore near the Skillman farm and the Skillman house was 
the gathering place of the party making the capture. 

13. Conselyea House site, corner of Humboldt Avenue and 
Jackson Street. The Conselyea family was a noted one during 
the Revolution. William Conselyea was hung in his well by the 
British to make him name the hiding-place of his money. 

234 



Bushwick BROOKLYN 35c Route 

Return to Bushwick Square and take cast bound Metropolitan Av- 
enue car to the bridge, crossing Newtown Creek; transfer to east 
bound Maspeth car to Flushing Avenue and take car marked Park 
Row, soon passing on the right and left several houses of old Dutch 
architecture belonging to the Wyckoff family originally (Excursion 
XI, Section III, 43). 

After passing under the Manhattan Bridge, see on the right 
the United States Marine Hospital, Wallabout Market and the 
Navy Yard (Excursion VIII, Section II). 



235 



NOTES 



236 



NOTES 



2Z1 



NOTES 



238 



EXCURSION VIII. 

HISTORIC BROOKLYN— PART I. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley. 

Revised, 1909, with the aid of George W. Nash, M. D. 

Copyright, 1905, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 





- r^ p^ I 1 BOR,OU9-M HA LL 

.Stction 1. £xci/r-£ion V///. 



DIAO-RAM 

BR.OOf(.LYN HE/eHTS 



Plate XLVII. Route z^- 



C. K. 



240 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 36 

SECTION L— BROOKLYN HEIGHTS TO BOROUGH HALL. 

(Figures refer to Plate XLVII). 

Take South Ferry to Atlantic Avenue; zvalk up to Hicks Street, 
north to Montague Street and west to Montague Terrace, from which 
is obtained a fine view of Manhattan and the Harbor; or Wall 
Street Ferry to Montague Street. 

T. Grace Episcopal Church, organized in 1847. When the 
church floor was renewed in 1899 the old Remsen Well was dis- 
covered; it is nearly under the font. 

The old Grace Court Spring, destroyed in 1908, was on the Prince 
Estate, between Grace Court and Remsen Street, on the bluff. The 
Remsen House stood one block in the rear of the church on Joralemon 
Street. The family owned a large farm on the Heights, Joris 
Remsen having bought it of his father-in-law in 1706. 

Walk north on Columbia Heights, noting the small parks along the 
edge' of the blufif. 

Brooklyn Heights was the center of the residence section of the Old Ferrv 
Village. As this Excursion chiefly describes historic houses still in existence, and 
as few important landmarks remain here, the student is referred to Stiles* 
" History of Kings County," pp. 105-139, and Stiles' " History of Brooklyn," 
Vol. II, Chao. 2, for interesting itineraries through the old streets of Ferry 
Village in 1816. 

At the corner of Henry and Clark Streets is the Grace M. E. 
Church, successor to the " Old Sands Street Church," organized 
in 1794. See tablet. 

Turn east at Orange Street. 
2. Plymouth Church, between Hicks and Henry Streets, a 
plain brick building erected in 1847-50, seating 2800 persons. See 
the stained glass windows representing the " History of Puritan- 
ism." A building is planned nearby as a Beecher Memorial. 
Henry Ward Beecher, born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1813, came to 
Brooklyn in 1847 when he was installed here as pastor. In the 
pulpit of Plymouth Church he acted as auctioneer one Sunday 
morning (Feb. 5, i860) and sold a slave girl into freedom. He 
died March 8, 1887. 

241 



Route 36 HISTORICAL GUIDE L. I. Historical So. 

On Cranberry and Hicks Streets are two hip-roofed houses. 

Continue on Orange through Nassau Street across Fulton to Adams 
Street and walk east to 

3. Public School No. i, at Concord and Adams Streets, site 
of the first district school of Brooklyn (1816, rebuilt 1842), where 
also was held the first (Union) Brooklyn Sunday School in 1816. 
See tablet in the gable on the front of the building. 

Go north on Concord to Jay Street and east to 

4. St. James Pro-Cathedral, Jay and Chapel Streets, the first 
Roman Catholic Church on Long Island (organized 1822). See 
bust of Peter Turner (1787-1853) and two tablets dedicated to him 
as founder of the first Roman Catholic Church and school on 
Long Island. 

There are about 6,000 graves in the adjoining churchyard. 
Continue on Jay Street to Myrtle Avenue and walk to 

5. Brooklyn Borough Hall (begun 1836, completed 1840), the 
original City Hall of Brooklyn. See in front the statue of Beecher 
by J. Q. A. Ward. In the space behind the hall, once occupied by 
a Tnilitary garden, is the County Court House. 

In the Borough Hall Subway Station see the tablet commemor- 
ating the opening of the first Subway uniting Manhattan and 
Brooklyn, January 9, 1908. 

Walk west on Fulton to Pierrepont Street and south to Clinton Street. 

6. Long Island Historical Society at Clinton and Pierrepont 
Streets (open to the public), founded 1863; contains an excellent 
reference library, rich in books on local history. The museum, 
in addition to a general collection of interesting articles and 
prints, has a large number of specimens illustrating the Natural 
History of Brooklyn and many relics and memorials illustrative of 
Colonial life. The curator will explain the collection. 



242 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 37. 

SECTION II.— FULTON STREET, FORT GREENE PARK 
AND NAVY YARD 

(Figures refer to Plate XLVIII). 

Take Fulton Street surface or elevated lines to Flathush Avenue, 

passing 

7. Site of the First Dutch Church of Brooklyn, on Fulton Street, near 
Lawrence. It was erected in 1666, rebuilt in 1766, and removed to Joralemon 
Street in 1807. Until 1654 the people had to go to New Amsterdam for church 
services; from that time until 1660 they were obliged to attend the church at 
Flatbush, when a petition was made for a church of their own. This was 
granted and they worshipped in a barn while measures were taken for the 
erection of a building. 

8. Tablet, erected by the Sons of the Revolution on the Smith- 
Gray Building, Fulton Street, corner of Flatbush Avenue, to mark 
the line of defence in the battle of Long Island "from the Wall- 
about to the Gowanus." Near by is the site of Lahon's Inn, a 
road-house which was occupied by the Hessians. 

Go north on Hudson to Willoughhy Avenue and cast to Fort Greene 

Park. 

9. Martyrs' Tomb, Fort Greene Park. The tablet over the 
entrance to the tomb commemmorates the "American Seamen, 
Soldiers and Citizens who perished on the prison ships " of the 
British at the Wallabout during the Revolution. This is the cor- 
ner stone of the vault erected by the Tammany Society, April, 
1808. The tomb contains the remains of 11,000 patriots. 

Fort Putnam stood here during the Revolution, the name being 
changed to Fort Greene during the War of 1812. 

The monument recently erected by the cit}^ is 145 feet high, 
including a bronze urn 20 feet high. The architects were McKim, 
Mead and White. The entire cost was defrayed by contributions 
from the U. S. Government, N. Y. State Government, New York 
City and the Prison Ship Martyrs Association. 
Walk north on St. Edward's Street through City Park to Navy Street. 

10. Brooklyn Navy Yard (entrance opposite Sands Street), es- 
tablished 1801. 

N. B. Secure pass at the gate. 

When inside the reservation, follow Park Avenue and First 
Street to Trophy Park and see ancient and modern Spanish 

243 



Route 37 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Wallabout 



cannon, Spanish contact mines. Civil War relics and a monu- 
ment to the sailors who fell in China in 1856. 

In Wallabout Bay were located the infamous Jersey and other 
prison ships during the Revolution, and in a vault just outside 
the Navy Yard rested the bones of the prisoners until removed in 
1873 to Fort Greene Park. 

The surrounding region was known as The Wallahout (" Waal- 
boght ") and was settled in 1637 by Joris Jansen de Rapelje and 
other "Walloons" or Huguenots who had fled to Holland for 
refuge. 

Adjoining the Navy Yard is Wallabout IMarket, which is well 
worth a visit, especially in the morning. 



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Plate XLVIII. Route zI- 
244 



C. K. 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 38 

SECTION III.— PROSPECT PARK, FLATBUSH AND 
FLATLANDS 

(The figures refer to Plate XLIX). 

(The points in Section III can be covered in an automobile 
or carriage in three hours. See Automobile Routes, Part VI). 

ROUTE 38. 

A. PROSPECT PARK 

Take Flatbush Avenue car from Atlantic Avenue terminal of the 
Subway to the entrance of Prospect Park. 

At the entrance to Prospect Park see 

11. Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch, erected in 1897 to 
the memory of the heroes of the Civil War. The arch was de- 
signed by John H. Duncan and the bronze quadriga and the tab- 
lets by Powers and MacMonnies. To the left is 

12. The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, which has a 
number of departments in each of which lectures and courses 
of instruction are regularly given. It has an excellent museum. 
The building is open on week days from 9 to 6 and is free except 
on Mondays and Tuesdays. 

A branch of the Institute, the Children's Museum, is located in 
Bedford Park in a Colonial residence. It may be reached from the 
entrance to Prospect Park via Eastern Parkway to Brooklyn 
Avenue and four blocks north of Park Place, or by Bergen Av- 
enue cars to Brooklyn Avenue, or by Fulton Street "L" (City 
Line) to Brooklyn Avenue Station and walk south to Bedford 
Park. The collections are selected with special reference to the 
needs of children and illustrate the various departments of science. 
The historical room is of particular interest for its models of 
colonial houses, furniture, costumes and other articles pertaining 
to the life of the colonists. 

At Prospect Park take electric omnibus (25 cents) or walk to 

13. Battle Pass Tablet (on the East Drive near the public play- 
grounds). The tablet marks Valley Grove, the outer line of de- 
fence in the Battle of Long Island. The chief part of the battle 
was fought in the region now included in Prospect Park, 

?45 



Route 38 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Prospect Park 



14. Maryland Monument, on Lookout Hill, erect oil in 1895 
through the otYorts oi the Maryland Society. Sons of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, to honor '"Maryland's Four Hundred" who, on 
this battlefield. August 27. 1776. saved the American Army. 
(For sketch of battle see Excursion XII; for full accounts see 
Stiles' and Johnston's works). 

Within the Park are statues and monuments of Payne, Irving. 
Moore. Lincoln. Stranahan and others. 

Frotii the Motiunioit, li'alk to the JVillinck (Malbonc Street) exit of 
the Park to Fhitbush Jz-enue. 



DM&RAM 



/^LATBU5H AVEf^Ue. 
Section 3. Ctcvraiort VW 







P^Tragf'^p^: 




Plate XLIX. Routes 3S, 39. 



c". K 



'46 



(< J }> 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 39. 

B. FLATBUSH 
(If Flatbush is made a separate excursion, take Brighton Beach 
L " train to Prospect Park Station.) 

Flatbush, in the early days called Midwout, was first settled in 1634; the 
origin of the present name is lost in obscurity. The land was purchased several 
times from the Indians. For many years the town was under the absolute rule 
of the Governor; in 1653, the people, chafing at his arbitrary methods, forced 
from him a little show of self-government which was granted, perhaps as a re- 
ward for help rendered in putting down pirates. The English occupation 
brought a change in laws and customs, but the inhabitants kept on placidly in 
their own ideas of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The stocks and whip- 
ping posts were provided, as was usual. In early part of the eighteenth 
century the road to Flatbush was made a turnpike with a toll gate at what is 
now the corner of Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue; in 1842 it was moved 
to near Hanson Place, and, later, as Brooklyn grew, still further away until, 
after a number of years, it stood at about where Fenimore Street meets the 
Avenue. The town lay in the track of the Battle of Long Island (see Excur- 
sion XII) where the Hessians overcame the American forces under Sullivan. 
The subsequent quartering of British soldiers on the town was a source of 
keen hardship. Since the Revolution, Flatbush has progressed quietly; in 1894 
it was annexed to Brooklyn. It has always been a residence section and is 
now an important suburb in Greater New York. 

Take Flatbush Avenue car south to Flatbush Reformed Church, 

passing 

15. Lefferts Homestead (pre-Revolutionary), 563 Flatbush 
Avenue. 

16. Vanderbilt Homestead (pre-Revolutionary), 610 Flatbu.sh 
Avenue. See Dutch oven and fire-place in the cellar. 

17. Birdsall House, 612 Flatbush Avenue, once famous for its 
ivy and garden. 

18. Melrose Hall site (built 1750), corner of Winthrop Street; 
noted for its legends. 

19. Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church, corner of Church Ave- 
nue; built 1793-6 on foundations of the second church (1698), 
which was on the site of the original building erected in 1654, 
this being the oldest church on Long Island. See tablet erected 
by the Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century. In early 
days the dead were buried beneath the church, and for many 
years no tombstones were used for fear of attracting the atten- 
tion of the Indians, In a part of the yard unmarked by stones 
are the remains of many who died in the Battle of Long Island. 
The church was used by the British as a military prison. Many 
of the epitaphs are in Dutch. 

20. Erasmus Hall High School (formerly Academy), near 
Snyder Avenue, built in 1786 by private subscription (Hamilton 
and Burr contributing), and chartered by the Regents in 1787- 
Wm. Alex Duer, son of Lady Kitty Duer, was an early graduate; 

247 



Route 39 HISTORICAL GUIDE Flatbush 

in 1797 John Henry Livingston, first Theological Professor of the 
Reformed Church, was the head of the school. It became a pub- 
lic school in i8g6 and is hidden by the modern building. 

21. The old Striker House at 2243 Church Avenue, just east 
of Flatbush Avenue. 

22. Site of 7. C. Bergen House, corner of Albermarle Road, 
built 1735. When occupied by David Clarkson in 1776, it was 
sacked by the British, and later it was used as a military prison. 
The house was torn down about 1902. 

23. Lott House, 1084 Flatbush Avenue. 

24. Vanderveer Homestead, 1159 Flatbush Avenue, was built 
in 1787 (or 1788) on the site of an earlier house. The land on 
which the house stands was granted to the ancestor of the pres- 
ent owner in 1660, by Governor Stuyvesant. See the quaint hall 
and door and the great barn of probably a much earlier date. 

25. John Ditmas House, just opposite, of unusual Dutch archi- 
tecture (gable end not turned to the street). 

26. Henry S. Ditmas House, between Foster and Newkirk Av- 
enues, built about 1800; notice Dutch door. 

27. Old House at 1240 Flatbush Avenue (like 25). 

28. C ortelyou-Vanderveer House site, I24g Flatbush Avenue. 
The house has been moved to Ditmas Avenue and East Twenty-sixth 
Street, behind the Cortelyou Club House. Just east was the well- 
known Vanderveer Mill between Paerdegat Pond and Canarsie Lane. 
This was the first Long Island windmill and was built in 1804. It 
was used as a refuge for negroes during the Draft Riots. It was 
burned in 1879. See illustration in L. I. Historical Society. 

Go zvest to Avenue G to Amersfoort Place 

29. Another Ditmas House, erected 1821, by George Van 

Nuyse. 

Return and continue south, passing 

30. Old House and pump on the lower corner of Avenue J. 



248 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 40. 

C. FLATLANDS 
(Figures refer to Plate L). 

In " Nieuw Amersfoort," the Dutch name for Flatlands, was established 1634, 
the first Dutch plantation on Long Island. The Canarsie Indians occupied this 
region, and in the great shell heaps at Canarsie and at Bergen Beach may be 
found traces of their wampum industry. Here the Indians and their ])utch 
successors raised crops of maize on the " Great Flats on Flatlands Plains." 
The " Indian Path " ran from Brooklyn Ferry to Bergen Island, following in 
part the " King's Highway " of to-day. The first patent recorded was in 1636 
to Andreas Hudden and VVolphert Gerritsen Van Kouwenhoven, and a local 
court was established in 1654. The town managed to g3t along until 1667 
without a charter. For over a century it had only ten men at the head 
of affairs. Political changes made but little impression on the people. Dur- 
ing the Revolution, when the English troops were quartered on the town, the 
Dominie was allowed to continue preaching, a rare occurrence at that time. • 
Flatlands was annexed to Brooklyn in 1896. 

This region resembles Holland in its general flatness, marshiness, dikes and 
creeks, and its outlook over salt meadows and Jamaica Bay, which is often 
dotted with slow-moving sailing vessels. 

I. Flatlands Church, Flatbiish Avenue north of King's High- 
way, built 1847-8, on the site of former buildings of 1662 and 1794. 
Some of the original colonial furniture is in the manse. Near the 
church is the old graveyard and the old school on the original 
school lot. Notice the new public school just north. Several 
Dutch houses and old barns may be seen in the neighborhood. 
(See 14). The church was organized in 1654. 

Continue on Flatbush Avenue car east on Avenue N to Mill Lane. 

Go south to 

2. Schenck-Crooke House, built about 1650. See the great 
rafters which are built ship fashion and the old fireplaces. 

3. Bergen Homestead on East Seventy-second Street (Bergen 
Beach), built about 1655. See the old jfireplaces, Dutch door and 
knocker. 

Return on car to Flatlands Avenue and walk west, passing 

4. Old Van Wyck Homestead, corner of Ryder Street. 

Go south on Kimball Street, passing 

5. Jeromus Lott-Vanderveer House, corner of Avenue P. 

6. Lott House (between Fillmore Avenue and Avenue S), 
built in 1800 of material from the original homestead. 

This entire section was first granted to Andries Hudden and 
Wolphert Gerritsen in 1636 by Wouter Van Twiller, the grant 
being confirmed by Stuyvesant in 1658 and reconfirmed by Gov- 
ernor NicoU in 1667. A portion came to the Lott family in 1719 

249 



Route 40 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Flatlands 



^^S- 




5echon 3 £xa 



Plate L. Route 40. 



C. K. 



(see copy of the grant and various transfers in the possession 
of the family whose descendants now occupy the house). 
Go west on the Neck Road, crossing the bridge over Gerritsen's Creek. 
7. Gerritsen Tide Mill and Mill Race on the edge of the 
Whitney place. The original mill was built shortly after 1636 by 
Wolphert Gerritsen. 

Continue zvest on Neck Road, passing 
8. Stillwell House, corner of Ryder's Lane, about a century 
old, the barn being still older. Note the milestone in front bear- 
ing the inscription "Eight and (Three Qu)arters Miles to Brock- 
land Ferry." 

See north on Ryder's Lane 
9-10. Two old Ryder Houses on either side of the lane. 
Six houses of Dutch architecture stand near the end of the Coney 
Island Jockey Club grounds. 

250 



i» 




Flatlands Neck BROOKLYN 40 Route 

Go north on Ocean Avenue, passing 

11. Bennett House on King's Highway, built by the elder Ben- 
nett for his son. 

12. Bennett Homestead, corner Avenue P and East Twenty- 
second Street, formerly fronting on King's Highway. 

13. Van Nuyse-Magaw Homestead, 1447 Ocean Avenue, a 
well-preserved Dutch farmhouse over a century old. 

Go east on Avenue J to Flatbush Avenue. 
D. SIDE TRIP THROUGH FLATLANDS NECK 

Take Flatlands Neck Road from Flatbush Avenue and go east, and 
north to Church Avenue, passing 

14. Van Wyck House on the corner of Avenue L or King's 
Highway. Note the bull's eyes in what was originally the front 
door, now the rear. Pass on the left the Flatlands Reformed 
Church and old school house. 

15. House of W. H. Kouwenhoven, Ring's Highway near Ave- 
nue H. 

16. Historic Tree, Avenue G and Neck Road. (Appendix E). 
George Kouwenhoven House, east of 16, on Avenue G. 
Between the church and Church Avenue about ten houses 

of typical Dutch style may be seen; also an early school house. 
Canarsie Lane, just beyond the school house, leads to old Can- 
arsie Village (Section IV). 

Take Church Avenue car hack to Flatbush. 



251 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 





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Plate LI. Route 41, 



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-52 



BROOKLYN 



ROUTE 41. 

SECTION IV.— NEW LOTS, EAST NEW YORK AND 
CANARSIE 

(Figures refer to Plate LI). 

New Lots had its beginning when the farmers of Old Lots in Flatbush, feel- 
ing crowded, came here and settled in 1670. The town was organized in 1852, 

East New York, so named from its location, was founded by John R. Pitkin, 
a merchant from Connecticut, in 1835. 

Take Fulton Street {City Line) train to Cleveland Street Station. 
Go north one block to Jamaica Avenue, then to the right one block to 

(A) Snedeker House, opposite the head of Elton Street. 
The house belongs to the city. See the beautiful mantel in the 
front room. 

Go two blocks west on Jamaica Avenue 

(B) Schenck House, built in 1705. 

Take Street car or "L" road to Crescent Avenue and go south to 
Old Mill Village (stage 10 cents), passing on the left the 

1. Peck House, near P. S. 159, at Pitkin and Lincoln Avenues. 

2. Old Mill, now called Van Wicklen Mill, on the left, ap- 
proaching the quaint little village which is situated on both sides 
of Old Mill Creek, formerly called Bull Creek. The mill was 
built in 1770 by Van Brunt. The village usually has in September 
a Mardi Gras festival which is worth seeing. 

The old mill wheel is silent, with moss now long grown o'er, 
The creaking gate 'neath the rustic bridge shall stem the tide no more, 
The miller, too, has passed away, no more the wheat and corn 
Shall grind to the chug of the old mill wheel by the waters that have gone, 

— From a Festival Program. 

Go back from Old Mill PTUuge to New Lots road and walk west to 

3. Van Brunt House, corner Shepherd Avenue, of Dutch archi- 
tecture, with hip roof; one of the oldest houses in this section. 

4. New Lots Dutch Reformed Church, built in 1824, but organ- 
ized many years earlier as an offshoot of the Flatbush Church, 
the congregation meeting in the old schoolhouse (6). The 
farmers, feeling that the distance to the Flatbush Church was too 
great, obtained permission to erect a building. of their own; not 
having much ready money, the men went into the woods, cut 

--^53 



Route 41 HISTORICAL GUIDE New Lots 

and hauled the timber to the mill, made and fitted the frame and 
then had the "raising"; in fact, they did everything but the 
plaster work. 

5. Churchyard on the side of P. S. 72, which stands on the 
site of the original school. Among the families buried here are 
the Van Dykes, Elberts, Snede(i)kers, Ryders, and Emanses. 
Several stones bear the date 1796. 

6. Old New Lots School, just north on Barbey Street, between 
Livonia and Dumont Avenues, over a century old and now used as 
a dwelling. It was moved to this site when the new school was 
built. The lower part was used by the teacher for his home and 
the upper part as a school and church. Near by is the 

7. Duryea House, at 562 Jerome Street, well preserved. 

Continue west on New Lots Road. 

8. Van Sicklen House, corner Van Sicklen Avenue, built about 
1730. 

9. Rapalye House, 349 New Lots Road, built about 1730 and in 
very good condition. See the twin doors in the back, a character- 
istic of the period. 

Ethan Allen, who had been captured in Canada, was billetted 
here under parole as a prisoner of war. Elated at the victory 
of the Americans at the Battle of Bennington, he gave expression 
to his feelings at Howard's Half Way House; this was too much 
for his captors and he was immediately arrested and confined in 
the Provost Prison in New York, where he was afterwards 
exchanged. 

10. Lott House, at 321 New Lots Road, about a century old. 

11. Snedeker House, corner of Snedeker Avenue, built about 
1750. 

The Van Sinderen House, near Junius Street, has lately been de- 
molished. 

Take Canarsie train from New Lots station to Canarsie Beach. 

12. Vanderz'eer Mill site at Flatlands Avenue and East One-hundred and 
Seventh Street. (Leave train at Flatlands Avenue and East One-hundred and 
Fifth Street and walk to East One-hundred and Seventh Street). 

This mill was in use up to the Civil War. Only ruins remain. 
The Vanderveer House was built about 1820. 

Continue on the train to Canarsie Park, passing 

13. Schenck House in Canarsie Park, built about 1670. 
Walk north on the old Canarsie Lane to Renisen Place. 

^S4 



E. New York BROOKLYN 41 Route 

14. Wyckoff House, built 1664 of material brought from Hol- 
land. The land was purchased from the Canarsie Indians in 1630 
and has been in the family since that date. 

Take the train hack to East New York Station; walk east three or four 
blocks on Atlantic Avenue. At the corner of Alabama Avenue is 

15. The Howard House, occupying the site of Howard's Half 
Way House. It was from this house that Howe impressed inn- 
keeper Howard and his son as guides to Flatbush at the Battle 
of Long Island. Here Ethan Allen was arrested (9); this was 
also the scene of draft riots during the Civil War when a num- 
ber of men were killed; see the painting (within the hotel) illus- 
trating this event. The building has been much altered. 

Take Broadway " L " road to Palmetto Street Station. Two blocks 
north, at the corner of Evergreen and Woodbine Avenues, is 

16. Suydam House site, now occupied by the Second German 
Baptist Church. The house was built in 1724 and was occupied 
by the Hessians during the Revolution. 



255 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 







JLJL 



ac 



86^-" 57: 



BBHiON /»« 



@ 



or 

NEW UTRECHT 

Section 6 £)ccuS&/o/* V'/// 



Plate LIT. Routes 42, 43. 



C. /C. 



•56 



BROOKLYN 

SECTION v.— FORT HAMILTON, NEW UTRFXHT AND 
GRAVESEND 

(Figures refer to Plates LII and LIII). 

ROUTE 42. 

A. BROOKLYN BRIDGE TO FORT HAMILTON 

Take Fifth Avenue Elevated Railroad. 
After leaving St. Mark's Avenue Station, see on the right the 
old Gowanus Canal. 

Leave the train at Third Street. 
See on a building near the foot of the station stairs 

1. Tablet erected by the Sons of the Revolution to commemo- 
rate and giving a representation of the V echte-C ortelyou House, built 
1699 by Claes Adrientie van Vechten and later occupied by 
Jacques Cortelyou. 

Here Lord Stirling made his famous defence during the Battle 
of Long Island. This house and others nearly as famous, including 
the Bennett-Schermerhorn House at Third Avenue, near Twenty-sixth 
Street (erected in the Seventeenth Century on the site of the original 
house built by Bennett, the pioneer of "The Gowanus"), and the De- 
Hart-Bergen House at Third Avenue, near Thirty-seventh Street, 
(erected before 1679 by Simon Aertsen and described in the Labadist 
Journal) have only recently disappeared. This was the site of the 
original Gowanus Creek, where was the old Freeks Mill (sometimes 
called Brower's Mill), burned in 1776 on the retreat of the Ameri- 
cans. It was built in 1661 and was the oldest tide mill in Brooklyn. 
Near by was Denton's Mill. After passing the Twentieth Street 
Station, see on the left 

2. Greenwood Cemetery, opened in 1842, covers portions oi 
the Bennett, Wyckoff and Bergen farms. It contains 474 acres 
and the number of interments up to 1907 was about 340,000. At 
the north entrance (where carriages may be hired, 25 cents), see 
the sculptures of sacred character. The most conspicuous monu- 
ments are the Soldiers' Monument on Battle Hill, the Firemen's 
Monument, the Cauda Memorial, the Mackay Mausoleum and 
statues or monuments for Roger Williams, DeWitt Clinton, 
Henry Ward Beecher, Horace Greeley, Samuel F. B. Morse, the 
Brown Brothers and Henry Bergh. 

257 



Route 42 HISTORICAL GUIDE Ft. Hamilton 

After turning into Third Avenue at Thirty-eighth Street, see 
on the right 

3. Old hip-roofed house near Gowanus Bay. 

At Sixty-Hfth Street change cars for Fort Hamilton. 

4. The military works at Fort Hamilton were begun in 1808 
by Mayor DeWitt Clinton and the present fort was constructed 
1825-31. It is a stone case-mated structure commanding the 
" Narrows." The military reservation contains 96 acres. General 
Robert E. Lee and " Stonewall " Jackson were stationed here 
previous to the Civil War. The fort covers the site of the old 
Simon Cortelyou House, built in 1699, and purchased by the 
U. S. Government in 1892. General Howe used the house as his 
headquarters in 1776. Cortelyou was a Tory and, on account of 
his ill-treatment of American prisoners, suffered imprisonment. 
After his death the house became a tavern. Nearby was Denyse's 
Ferry, where the British landed August 22, 1776. 

N. B. — ^Write in advance to the Commandant for a permit. 

5. Fort Lafayette originated as " Fort Diamond " on Diamond 
Reef during the War of 1812, and its name was changed about 
1825 to honor the French hero who was then visiting New York. 
During the Civil War it was used as a military prison. The inte- 
rior was burned in 1868 and it has since been used for the storage 
of ordnance, etc. 

Here, at The Narrows, Verrazano first saw New York Harbor 
and Hudson's men landed just below on Coney Island to bury 
the body of John Coleman, who had been killed by the Indians. 
(But see Excursion X:io). 



258 



BROOKLYN 

ROUTE 43. 

B. NEW UTRECHT 

The land on which the village of New Utrecht now stands was purchased 
from the Indians in 1652 for 6 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, 6 pairs of stockings, 6 
adzes, 6 knives, 2 pairs of scissors and 6 combs, and settled shortly after. In 
1661 the town received a charter; in 1663 it was raided by some English from 
the east end of Long Island, who claimed this section also; in 1753 a ferry 
was established across the "Narrows" to Staten Island; in 1755 there were 67 
slaves in the town. " The town has been purchased three times from the In- 
dians; has received six different government patents and has undergone four 
different changes of government administration." 

From Fort Hamilton take Fifth Avenue trolley and transfer at Eighty- 
sixth Street to car going east. Get off at Sixteenth Avenue 
and walk north to Eighty-fourth Street. 

6. Dutch Churchyard, in which stands St. John's Lutheran 
Church (entrance on Eighty-fifth Street). See many quaint old 
tombstones. The original Dutch Reformed Church of New 
Utrecht formerly stood in this yard. It was an octagonal-shaped 
building with a tall spire. During the Revolution the British 
used it as a hospital and as a riding school. Adjoining the old 
church stood the DeSille (later Van Brunt) House in which 
General Woodhull died. It was built in 1657 and torn down in 
1850. DeSille was a court officer under Stuyvesant. 

7. Nostrind House, with stone wing, corner of Eighty-fourth 
Street and Sixteenth Avenue. The house was bought from John 
Lott, who obtained it from Barrie, who kept a tavern here dur- 
ing the Revolution. When Washington was President, he was 
entertained in this tavern while on a tour of inspection. 

8. Voorhees House, 1531 Eighty-fourth Street, west of (7), an 
old Dutch stone house covered with stucco. (7) and (8) will 
soon be destroyed to make way for street improvements. 

9. Van Brunt House, 1752 Eighty-fourth Street, built about 
1660 and used as quarters for British officers during the Revolu- 
tion. The stone kitchen is the oldest portion of the building. 
It is said that the hickory trees in the rear are over a century 
old, the seeds having been brought from Maryland. 

10. New Utrecht Dutch Reformed Church, opposite the east 
end of Eighty-fourth Street, erected in 1828 at this point to settle 
a controversy. It was organized in 1677 ^i^d occupied the site 
of the St. John's Lutheran Church (6) from 1700 to 1828. 

259 



Route 43 HISTORICAL GUIDE New Utrecht 

The old Nczv Utrecht school house occupied this site and was torn 
down to make way for the present church structure. When the news 
of Washington's visit (see 7) was made known, the teacher hned up 
the pupils in front of the school and Washington, dismounting, shook 
hands with every child. Among them was Peter Van Pelt, who be- 
came the well-known Dutch Reformed clergyman of Staten Island. 

IT. Liberty Pole in front of the church, the third pole on this 
site, the first having been erected in 1783, the second in 1834 and 
the present one in 1867. See two tablets on the pole. In Octo- 
ber, 1908, a society composed of the descendants of the patriots 
who erected the first pole was incorporated under the laws of 
the State of New York. 

Go north on Eighteenth Avenue to Eighty-first Street. 

12. Van Pelt Manor House. The ancestors of the Van Pelt 
family came to America in 1663, one brother settling in New 
Utrecht, and it is claimed that he erected this house in 1664. 
The land was purchased in 1694 by Aert Tunise (Van Pelt) from 
Hendrick Mathyse Smack. British officers were quartered here dur- 
ing the Revolution. 

The milestone in front of the house dates from 1741 and is the 
private property of the Van Pelt family. 
Go south on Nineteenth Avenue to Eighty-sixth Street, zvalk east to 

13. Van Pelt House, between Bay Twenty-third and Bay 
Twenty-fourth Streets, built 1812. 

Go south on Bay Twenty-fourth Street to Benson Avenue. 

14. Benson House, originally a Couwenhoven House. 



260 



BROOKLYN 



ROUTE 43a. 

C. GRAVESEND AND CONEY ISLAND 

In 1643 Lady Moody, an Englishwoman, fixed upon this spot as a place where 
she and others could exercise that liberty of conscience denied to her by her 
own people. She was a woman of force, education and refinement and it was 
not long before she became a power in the community. The town of Clravesend 
was originally laid out in a square, and two cross roads divided this into four 
equal squares which were cut up into 40 lots for as many settlers; curiously, 
only 39 parts are ever mentioned. The town soon grew beyond these limits 
but never attained to the growth and prosperity of its neighbors. 

Coney Island was part of the above grant. It belonged to the Canarsie 
Indians and was called by them " Narrioch " and by the Dutch " Conynge 
Hook." It was granted by Governor Kieft to Guyspert Op Dyck and later 
was held by DeWolf until Governor Nicolls gave it in 1668 to the town of 
Gravesend. In 1685 it was divided into 40 lots which were held by various 
families until 1734, when Tiiomas Stilwell obtained the whole island. In 1829 
was erected the Coney Island House, the first hotel on the Island. Modern 
Coney Island began in 1844 when a " Pavilion" was erected. Since that 
time the place has grown steadily as an amusement center. Coney Island Creek 
has been partly filled in, so the place is no longer an island. 







D/A eRAM 




5«ct/on ^5 



^>{C(j/rsiO/7 y/// 



Plate LI 1 1. Route 43a. 



C. K. 



261 



Route 43a HISTORICAL GUIDE Gravesend 

From Coney Island take Reid Avenue car to Gravesend, getting off at 
Neck Road, walk west on Neck Road, passing 

15. Hicks-Platt House, a well-preserved Dutch stone house 
covered v^^ith stucco. It is claimed that this house was on the 
Bouwerie of Lady Moody and built in 1643; that Stuyvesant and 
Kieft were entertained here and that it was used as a hospital 
during the Revolution. 

16. Bergen House, near the corner of Van Sicklen Street. 

Turn south on Van Sicklen Street to 

17. Stilwell House, in a good state of preservation, built about 
1800. 

Return to Neck Road, walk east and on the south side near the M. E. 

Church see 

18. Old Gravesend Town Cemetery. 

Continue east, crossing the railroad track to Village Road; turn south 

to 

19. Williamson House, well-preserved. 

Return to Neck Road. 

20. Stilwell House, 95 Neck Road, corner Village Road. 

21. Emans House, further to the east, on the south side of 
the road. 

22. Lake House, between East Fourth Street and the Boule- 
vard. 

Continue on Neck Road, crossing the Boulevard or Ocean Parkway. 

23. Old Dutch House. 

24. Voorhees-Sheppard House, opposite Homecrest Avenue, 
built in 1730. 

25. Van Cleef House, corner East Sixteenth Street and Neck 
Road. 

Return by Brighton Beach Elevated Road. 



262 



BROOKLYN 

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON FLATLANDS 

By Frederick Van Wyck. 

The first deed of land on Long Island was made to Andries Hudde 
(Hudden) and Wolphert Gerretsen Van Kouwenhoven on June i6, 
1636, and comprised the land from Flatbush to the ocean and 
Gravesend to Paardegat Outlet, excepting Bergen's Island (Ber- 
gen Beach). The latter was granted to Captain John Underhill 
in 1646 for aid in fighting Indians. 

Hudde never resided at Niquw Amersfoort, but Van Kouwenhoven 
made there in 1636 the earliest settlement by Europeans on Long 
Island, his plantation, Achterveldt (after or across the Plain) con- 
sisting of 3600 acres within the triangle bounded by the old road from 
Flatbush to Flatlands on the west, the road from Flatlands to 
Flatlands Neck and New Lots on the southeast, and the old con- 
necting road (Hubbard's Lane) on the northeast. This became 
later the Village of Flatlands, the Dutch church being located at 
the head of a small stream leading to Jamaica Bay. The site of 
the church was the seat of Indian religious rites and an Indian 
burial place. Indian remains are still found here. 

Adjoining the Indian burial plot is the public school plot, a deed 
from the Van Kouwenhovens' successors showing it to have been 
used for school purposes in 1695, making it probably the oldest public 
school property in New York. 

The houses of Wm. H. Kouwenhoven on the east side of Flat- 
lands Neck Road near Avenue H, and of the late George Kouwen- 
hoven, near the bridge over the Paardegat Outlet and Avenue G, 
are on land which has never been out of the possession of the family 
and are on land included in the original grant. 

The white oak tree on Avenue G, west of Neck Road (called 
Amusketahole by the Indians), stands on the southeast corner of 
the former town of Flatbush and was marked on October 17, 1666, by 
arbitrators appointed by Governor Nicolls to settle a boundary line 
dispute between Flatbush and Flatlands. It is mentioned in the 
patent dated March 11, 1685, by Governor Dongan to the inhabi- 
tants of Flatlands. 



263 



NOTES 



264 



NOTES 



26$ 



NOTES 



266 



NOTES 



267 



NOTES 



268 



PART FOUR 



BOROUGH OF QUEENS. 



EXCURSION NO. XL— HISTORIC QUEENS. 

By Frank Bergen Kelley 

Compiled from an Unpublished Manuscript Entitled 

"ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF QUEENS BOROUGH" 

By J. H. Innes 

Author of " New Amsterdam and Its People," " The Old Bark Mill, 
or First Place of Religious Worship in New York," etc. 

Copyright, 1908, by the City History Club of New York. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



c/ u 



vT^v" 




C. K. 



Plate LIV. Old Tracts and Routes in Newtown. 



272 



QUEENS 



Bibliography 

"History of Long Island," (2 vols.) by B. F. Thompson, gives 
general information in regard to the various towns. 

" History of Long Island," by Nathaniel S. Prime, includes many 
interesting particulars as to church matters. 

" Antiquities of Long Island," by Gabriel Furman. 

" Queens County in Olden Times," by Henry Onderdonck. 

" History of Queens County," by Munsell. 

"Annals of Newtown," by James Riker, Jr. (scarce). 

Newspaper articles on Queens, written, 1880-90, by Wm. O'Gor- 
man, Town Clerk of Newtown, and articles on " Ancient Newtown — 
formerly Middelburgh," 1898, by J. H. Innes (may be found in the 
N. Y. Historical Society Library). 

" New Amsterdam and Its People," by J. H. Innes. 

" History of the Town of Flushing," by H. D. Waller. 

" Travels in America," by John Davis. 

" Journal of a Tour in New York," (pp. 25-36) by John Fowler, 

" Historical Long Island," by R. R. Wilson. 

"Early Life in Long Island," by M. B. Flint. 

N. B. — The City History club is greatly indebted to Mr. J. H. Innes, 
through whose scholarship, unwearied energy and courtesy this EX- 
CURSION has been made possible. 

Thanks are also due for research and the preparation of copy 
and charts for the press to teachers and students of the Bryant, 
Jamaica and DeWitt Clinton High Schools, and to many residents of 
Flushing, Newtown and Jamaica. 



273 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF QUEENS 

The Borough of Queens of the City of New York was formed on 
January i, 1898, from the former townships of Newtown, Fkishing 
and Jamaica, together with Long Island City and a small portion of 
the town of Hempstead, embracing the Far Rockaway and Rockaway 
Beach district of that town. This territory, forming the western 
portion of the old County of Queens, was reorganized at the time 
mentioned and became the County of Queens, while the eastern por- 
tion of the former county received a new organization and became 
known as the County of Nassau. 

The first settlements in this territory were made by individual 
Dutch farmers from 1637 to 1656, under grants from the Director- 
General and Council at New Amsterdam, in what may be described 
in a general way as the districts forming the present Long Island 
City. They were under the direct supervision of New Amsterdam 
authorities and were known as the Out Plantations. The remain- 
der of the present borough was settled entirely by colonists from 
various parts of New England under grants from the Dutch authori- 
ties at New Amsterdam. They received township governments, but 
modelled after the Dutch form, and their villages received Dutch 
appellations. There were, however, originally no Dutch settlers 
among them except in one or two isolated cases. In course of time 
many Dutch bought lands among them. These settlements were made 
as follows : In the spring of 1642 a patent was issued to Rev. 
Francis Doughty (for himself and a party of associates) of the 
remainder of the land included in the former town of Newtown, Un- 
der this patent a settlement was begun, principally along the Mespat 
Kill, afterwards known as Newtown Creek, but it was destroyed in 
the Indian war of 1643. In 1644 Heemstede (Hempstead) was settled 
by a company from Watertown, Wethersfield and Stamford in New 
England. In 1645-6 Vlissingen (Flushing) was settled, and in 1652 
Middelburg (Newtown), in the old Doughty patent, — in both cases 
by colonists from Massachusetts and Connecticut, while in 1656 Rust- 
dorp (Jamaica) was settled by a party from Hempstead and Flush- 
ing. The above were the only settlements in the territory of the bor- 
ough for a long period, except that in 1656, after the second Indian 
war, the inhabitants along the Mespat Kill were for a short time gath- 
ered for security into a village called Arnhem, on what was known 
as Smith's Island in the Mespat Kill; this village was abandoned 
in 1662. 

274 



QUEENS 

The history of Hempstead and Jamaica was uneventful during the 
Dutch rule, but in Flushing and in Middelburg there was consider- 
able dissatisfaction, the people of the latter place going so far as to 
attempt to put themselves under the jurisdiction of Connecticut and 
to alter the name of their town to Hastings in 1663. After the 
surrender to the English in 1664, these towns were organized for the 
purposes of civil administration into what was known as the West 
Riding of Yorkshire (in analogy to the civil divisions bearing the 
same name in Yorkshire, England), with a Sessions House for judi- 
cial and administrative business at Jamaica. The names of the 
towns were now changed, but Heemstede being so similar in form 
to the English town of Hempstead, and Vlissingen being so well 
known to the English under the name of Flushing, these forms were 
retained, while Rustdorp reverted to its Indian name of Jamaica, and 
Middelburg received the name of Newtown, together with a patent 
in 1667 by which the former Out Plantations were added to it. In 
1683 these towns, together with the eastern town of Oyster Bay, 
were united to form the County of Queens with its court house and 
other county buildings at Jamaica. This organization remained un- 
disturbed until after the Revolution. In 1814 Jamaica, then with a 
population of 1500, became an incorporated village, as did Flushing 
in 1837, with a population of about 2000. Soon after the introduction 
of steam navigation, and as early as 181 1, Astoria began to attract 
attention as a place of suburban residence and in 1839 it was incorpo- 
rated as a village. About 1853-4 Whitestone (formerly a mere ham- 
let) began to grow from the establishment there of a factory of 
tinned and japanned ware, while College Point owed its growth as 
a village at about the same time to the setting up of a factory of hard 
rubber ware, though it was not incorporated until 1880. 

In 1836 the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad was opened, its first 
time-table taking effect on April 26 of that year. On March i, 1837, 
under the auspices of the Long Island Railroad, it was opened through 
Queens County to Hicksville, and to its terminus in Greenport in 
1844. The New York and Flushing Railroad was opened June 26, 
1854, its East River terminus being a dock at Hunter's Point near the 
mouth of Newtown Creek, from which it connected a few times daily 
with one of the Harlem boats for the lower part of New York. In 
1861 the terminus of the Long Island Railroad was changed from 
Brooklyn to Hunter's Point, soon after which the latter place began 
to grow rapidly until, in 1871, with Astoria, Dutch Kills and the 
surrounding districts, it was incorporated as Long Island City. 

275 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Q^ 



QUEENS 



ROUTE 44. 

SECTION I.— HUNTER'S POINT AND STEINWAY TO 
NORTH BEACH. 

(Figures refer to Plate LV, letters to LIV). 

Thirty-fourth Street Ferry to Hunter's Point, Steinway trolley to 

Skillman Avenue, near end of Queensboro Bridge; or car 

from Fifty-ninth Street, Manhattan, across 

Queensboro Bridge. 

A. Dominie's Hook. — Originally an island surrounded by salt water marshes, 
possessed by Dominie Everardus Bogardus and his wife Anneke Jans Bogardus, 
about 1642; later confirmed by patent, and still later owned by the Bennett 
family, who sold much of it to Dr. Nott of Union College, from whom it came 
to the trustees of that institution. In 1842 it was connected with Williamsburg, 
Greenpoint, Ravenswood and Astoria by a turnpike, now known as Vernon 
Avenue. In 1854 the New York and Flushing Railroad was opened, starting 
from a pier at the foot of Newtown Creek, with boat connection to New 
York. It was now for a short time called Nottston, and became a subject for 
land speculation. In 1861 it became the terminal for the L. I. R. R., and began 
to grow under the name of Hunter's Point. 

The original farmhouse was on the shore of Newtown Creek, near the 
present bridge to Greenpoint. The later farmhouse, standing until recently, was 
a little farther back from the Creek. 

a-a. Line of ancient road from " Maspeth Kill " (Newtown Creek) along 
Dutch Kills to Burger Jorissen's Mill, thence to East River, laid out 1640-54. 

1. Site of Van Alst House (east side of Barn Street, north of L. I. R. R.), 
Dutch Kills, recently removed. The original house, just south, was on the old 
farm of Jan Jansen of Ditmars ("Jan Platneus," or Flatnose), 1643, and on his 
death, in 1651, was sold to Joris Stevensen, ancestor of the Van Alst family. 
The creek near by (Indian name " Canapaukah ") was called Caper's (privateers- 
man's) Kill, as Stevensen had been a seafaring man. The Van Alst burial 
ground, now almost blotted out, was at the intersection of Barn Street on the 
north side of the L. I. R. R. For an account of Indian events near by, see 
'* New Amsterdam and its People," pp. 167-8 

2. Paynter House (Skillman Avenue, corner Jackson), prob- 
ably on the site of the house of Burger Jorissen, blacksmith, of 
New Amsterdam (Excursion VII), who had a grant here in 
1643. Here he built the 

3a. First mill in this part of Long Island (called Ryerson's Mill during the 
Revolution) ; 

3. The mill pond, now overgrown with reeds. The dam (just north of Skill- 
man Avenue) was removed in 1861, when the L. I. R. R. was built. 

b-b. Burger's Sluice, constructed through the swamp to supply the pond, 
still exists in a few places as a dry ditch paralleling the railroad tracks 

Continue on Steinway Avenue car to Grand Avenue. 



277 



Route 44 HISTORICAL GUIDE Steinway 

4. Site of John Hallett's Farmhouse, southeast corner Grand and Steinway 
Avenues, The large farm, patented in 1654 to Wm. Hallett, lay northeast of 
this point. In the Revolution it belonged to Wm. Lawrence, a strong patriot. 
Here Maj.-Gen. Robertson took up quarters on August 30, 1776, and encamped 
10,000 British soldiers north of the house. Two weeks later he withdrew, 
crossing to Westchester, and Gen. DeHeister's Hessians succeeded them. Many 
balls from the American battery at Hoorn's Hook fell on the heights back of 
the house. 

5. Samuel Hallett Farmhouse, on a height north of the inter- 
section of Newtown and Grand Avenues, is supposed to have 
been built by Samuel Hallett (a great-great-grandson of the 
patantee; see 17) about 1752. 

6. Site of the House of Wm. Hallett (grandson of the patentee), near the 
corner of Newtown and Jamaica Avenues, where (Jan. 24, 1708), with his wife 
and five children, he was murdered by two of his negro slaves (" Riker's 
Annals," p. 142). 

c. Site of the Ridge Road to Dutch Kills, now nearly closed or obliterated. 

7. Middletown, a hamlet, begun about 1800, near the old school- 
house of 1721, Only one or two houses remain. 

Continue north on Steinway Avenue to old Boivery Road, passing on 

the left 

B. Luhhert's, or the Great Swamp, dry now, as the trees have 
been cut. 

d-d. Old Bowery Road, now partly obliterated, laid out i638-'5o 
by settlers of the Poor Bowery and the Out Plantations. 

Walk east on the Old Bowery Road or Winthrop Avenue. 

8. Moore House (near Titus Street), one of the oldest build- 
ings in New York, standing on what was once a parcel of 50 
acres of woodland reserved by the West India Company, possibly 
for ship timber. After 1664 it was patented to Wm. Hallett, who 
had already bought up the Indian title. In 1684 he sold it to 
Captain Samuel Moore, son of the Rev. John Moore (see p. 291), 
who built this house for himself and his son Joseph in 1690-95. 
In 1769 it was sold to Jeromus Remsen. Here in 1757 several 
French prisoners of war were lodged on parole, and it is said 
that they spent much time hunting near by. About 1776 it was 
occupied by the militia officer, Colonel Jeromus Remsen, who had 
to take refuge in New Jersey during the British occupation. 



278 



Bowery Bay QUEENS 44 Route 

9, 10. 17th Century Houses, near the bend of the Bowery Bay- 
Road. The Bowery Bay schoolhouse, built in 1829, stood near 
the bend. 

11. Rapalye House (dating before 1750), probably on the site 
of the original homestead, and standing in front of the old 
family burying-ground. Here Harck Siboutsen of New Amster- 
dam settled about 1650, receiving his ground brief in 1654. In 
1729 his son Jacobus willed it to Abraham Lent, his nephew. 
Dr. Riker, a family connection, took refuge here from the Brit- 
ish after the battle of Long Island. About 1800 the house came 
into the possession of Isaac Rapalye, who held it nearly half 
a century, 

12. Riker Homestead, a rare example of property remaining 
in the same direct family line and name since the first settle- 
ment. Abraham Ryker married the daughter of Hendrick Har- 
mens^en, the first settler of this part of Long Island, and secured 
the patent for this land in 1654. The present house is i8th cen- 
tury in style and possibly contains part of the original house. 

C. The Poor Bowery (North Beach), historically one of the most interesting 
portions of Long Island, was settled by Hendrick Harmensen in 1638, when he 
brought cattle here from New Amsterdam. He was for several years the only 
farmer of the north side of Long Island, and was called Henricus Agricola, 
Hendrick, the Boor (farmer) in the Doughty patent of 1642. He was killed 
by Indians in 1643 and his widow succeeded to the Bowery and married 
Jeuriaen Fradell of New Amsterdam in 1645, who the same year obtained 
a ground brief for the farm from Kieft. It contained 154 acres, besides the 
Hoiiwelicken (Dowry Island, later Luysters) of Bowery Bay, separated by a salt 
water creek. 

The deacons of the Dutch Church bought the farm before 1654, to establish 
maintenance for their poor, hence it was called " Armen " or " Poor Bowery." 
About 1688, they sold it to Pieter Cornelissen Timmermann (also called 
Luyster), the first of that family here. It remained until lately in the possession 
of the (iouwenhovens (descendants of the last named owner). 

e-e. The rivulet surrounding the lands of "Hendrick the farmer" (as it 
is described in the Doughty patent of 1642), still flows south of the Bowery, 
draining 

D. Trains Meadow, used as a common fresh meadow by English settlers 
of Middelburg (Newtown) as early as 1662, some of the earlier drains being 
still visible. It was first recorded as Long Traynes Meadow (Long Drains 
Meadow?). It was divided among the settlers in 1678, and part is still a wild 
and secluded jungle. The '\ rivulet " was later called Wessells or Lodowick's 
Brook, the Indian name being " Sackhichneyah." 

13. Kouwenhoven Farmhouse, now forming the rear of a 
hotel, probably occupies the site of the original house of C. 
The whole tract is now the property of the North Beach Im- 
provement Co. 

Continue through North Beach along the trolley line, erossing the 

bridge. 
279 



Route 44 HISTORICAL GUIDE Bowery Bay 

14. Jackson's Mill Pond, now nearly dry, the mill (near the 
bridge) being operated first by Warner Wessells, and destroyed 
by the Indians in 1655. It was re-established by Pieter Cornelis- 
sen Luyster, before 1670. It was later known as Kip's and Fish's 
Mill. 

f.f. Old Road from the vicinity of the present Corona to this mill, laid out 
about 1662. 

15. Farmhouse of Abraham and John I. Rapalye (i8th cen- 
tury), just across the bridge on the right, on that part of the 
13,000-acre tract patented by Rev. Francis Doughty (1642), re- 
served for his own use. It came to the Stevenson family and 
(about 1700) to Jesse Kip, their connection by marriage. The 
present house was probably built by Captain Thos, Hazard, to 
whom the farm belonged, shortly after 1724. 

16. Site of Rev. Francis Doughty' s House, or the house built by 
his son-in-law, Adriaen Van der Donck, the jurist and determined 
opponent of Peter Stuyvesant. It was on or near the site of the late 
Strong residence. It was for years the home of the Rapalye, Remsen 
and Strong families (in lineal descent), and is described by John 
Davis in his " Travels in America," i8oo-'oi, as the seat of his fre- 
quent entertainment. A shore road probably existed at the time of 
the original settlement. 

Return by trolley from North Beach or walk to the Jackson Avenue 

line. 



280 



QUEENS 

ROUTE 45. 

SECTION II.— ASTORIA TO STEINWAY. 

(Figures refer to Plate LVI ; letters to LIV). 

Astoria Ferry from East Ninety-second Street, Manhattan. 

See on the left, Hell Gate, Great and Little Mill Rock, Ward's 
and Blackwell's Islands on the south (Excursion V, Section 7). 
Astoria was originally known as Hallett's Pnjnt; the bay just below 
the point is still called Hallett's Cove and that above Pot Cove. The 
latter is the scene of the wreck described in Irving's " Knickerbocker 
History of New York." 

In i860, Astoria and Ravenswood were a favorite suburban resi- 
dence district, but are now greatly deteriorated in portions. Until 
1800 this was the almost exclusive possession of the Hallett family 
(see Historical Sketch of Queens). 

JJ^alk up Fulton Avenue to Main Street. 

17. Hallett House (i8th century), near northeast corner Main 
Street and Shcre Boulevard, on or near the site of the ancient 
stone homestead of Wm. Hallett, original patentee of 1500 acres 
here. The shore portion had been granted before 1638 to Jacques 
Bentyn of Van Twiller's Council, who is supposed to have built 
a house here destroyed by the Indians in 1643. In 1654 it was 
granted by Stuyvesant to Hallett, whose house was also de- 
stroyed by Indians in 1655, and rebuilt on the same spot about 
1670, where it remained until supplanted by the present house, 
about a century later. 

18. Hallett House (opposite 17) on the site of the original 
house built by the patentee for his son William, prior to 1678, 
and burned in 1770. 

19. Stevens House (Boulevard, between Temple and Elm 
Streets), built for a country residence by General Ebenezer Stevens, 
who purchased the land from the Halletts not long after the Revolu- 
tion, and named it Mt. Napoleon. Here on July 14, 1813, he gave a 
dinner to Mayor DeWitt Clinton and several prominent military men 
on the occasion of the inauguration of military works on Hallett's 
Point (known as Castle Stevens and Castle Bogardus) for protec- 
tion against the British, 

281 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



^®- 




Plate LVl. Ruute 45. 
282 



C. A' 



Astoria QUEENS 45 Route 

g-g. Snnswick Creek, now small, but once sufficient to help feed a 

20. Tide mill pond at its mouth, once the property of Captain Jacob Blackwell, 
later known as Suydam's Mill. 

21. Blackwell stone homestead, built in the latter days of the 17th Century, 
stood near the foot of Webster Street. 

h. Hallett Lane, from the old Hallett dock, followed the line of Main and 

Greenoak Streets (past the farm buildings of Wm. Hallett, Jr.), through St. 

George's Place, Welling Street (between the Hallett orchards). Main Street, 

Newtown Avenue and Grand Avenue to " The Narrow Passage " (see 44) and 
Newtown. 

22. Site of the Hallett burying ground, adjoining the old Astoria 
Methodist Church, built in 1843, and now used as stores and a tene- 
ment (near junction of Main Street and Fulton Avenue). 

23. Site of House of Jas. Hallett (great-grandson of the patentee) near corner 
Flushing Avenue and Hallett Street. I' an Alst A^'enne was laid out in 1774 as 
a narrow road between Jas. Hallett's garden and orchard to give the farms 
along the river access to the cove and was provided with two swinging gates. 
It was in constant use by the British during the Revolution. (For other Hallett 
farms see 4, 5, 6 in Section I.) 

Walk Up the hill past the Public Library to Franklin Street and go 

zvest. 

24. St. George's Episcopal Church, on the site of the first 
church erected at Hallett's Cove in 1828, the old graveyard lying 
just below. 

25. Blackwell Mansion, between Remsen and Woolsey Streets, 
one of the first houses erected here after the breaking up of 
the Hallett farms. 

Other Blackwell houses are at the northeast corner Franklin 
and Remsen Streets, and on Franklin Avenue opposite Wardell 
Street. 

26. Reformed Dutch Church of Hallett's Cove, near Remsen 
Street, cornerstone laid in 1836. 

27. Presbyterian Church, near Stevens Street, erected 1846-7. 

Return on Franklin Avenue and go north on Woolsey Street to the 

Boulevard. 

i-i. Lawrence Lane (later Linden Street and now Hoyt Avenue), till lately 
lined with lindens. Fly. Vly or Vleigh Brook, 100 feet south, separating the 
Lawrence and Hallett estates. It was named from Lubbert's Vly or swamp 
(see B, Sec. I) and its deep bed may yet be seen from behind houses on Hoyt 
Avenue. 

Walk along the Boulevard to IVinthrop Avenue. 

The Shore Road Boulevard about 1880 formed one of the finest 
roads about New York, being well macadamized, protected by a sea 
wall and lined with well-kept suburban residences. Although this 
section has deteriorated, it will probably remain a residence district, 

283 



Route 45 HISTORICAL GUIDE Astorb 

•as the channel of the river is too narrow and the current too swift 
for docking purposes. 

28. Site of the Edward Woolsey House, corner Woolsey Avenue, burnt in 
1898. This tract was originally patented to Anneke Jans and later bought by 
Thos. Lawrence, who purchased all the farms in this neighborhood to lay the 
foundation of a great estate. A house, was built just before 1726 when this 
part was sold to Joris Rapalye. who held it until 1768, when the house was 
burned and the farm came back to the Lawrences, and the late mansion was 
built. In Revolutionary days it was the home of Jonathan Lawrence, a wealthy 
New York merchant patriot, who was forced to abandon it during the British 
occupation. Philip J. Livingston lived here and the soldiers destroyed most of 
the timber. Later it came into the possession of the Woolseys, connected by 
marriage with the Lawrences. The park-like grounds lie neglected. - but there 
is reason to believe that they may be purchased by the city for a public park. 

29. A. D. Ditmars House, corner Ditmars Avenue, on a tract 
originally patented to Philip Geraerdy, proprietor of the White 
Horse Tavern (see " New Amsterdam and its People," p. 12). 
His widow sold it to the Lawrences, and Daniel LawTence had a 
house and farm here prior to 1719, when he sold it to Wm. Pen- 
fold, an English sea captain and marriage connection. 

The dock, just north, is said to have been the point of embarka- 
tion for the Hessians in their pursuit of the Americans through 
Westchester. 

After the war the place was brought by Dr. Dow Ditmars, whose 
son, Abraham D. Ditmars, was the first Mayor of Long Island 
City. The building is over 100 years old and possibly contains 
portions of the original house. 

30. Ancient stone house, corner Wolcott Street, on a w^alled 
bank. Here, in 1653, Teunis Craie, town crier of New Amster- 
dam, obtained 74 acres from the Dutch Government ('' New 
Amsterdam and its People," p. 89). In 1654 he leased it to his 
son Geurt, on condition that he and Gerrittsen Vries clear 8 
acres and deliver to him annually " 100 pieces of merchantable 
firewood." Improvements were stopped by the Indian war of 
1655. It was bought in 1681 by Hendrick Martensen Wiltsee, of 
Copenhagen, who built a house on the site. He resisted the 
Lawrences' endeavors to obtain the property, and in 1706 he 
turned it over to his son Teunis, who sold most of it to Daniel 
and John Lawrence. The Wiltsees remained in the old house 
until 1737, when they sold it to Richard Berrien, and either he 
or Jacob Rapalye, the next owner, built the present house, which 
is one of the best preserved specimens of an i8th century farm- 
house. 

Turn east on Winthrop Avenue. 

284 



Steinway QUEENS 45 Route 

d-d. Bowery Bay Road is now largely closed (Section I). 

j-j. Berrien's Lane, running towards Berrien's Island. Near the shore stood 
once Cornelius Berrien's farmhouse, erected about 1727. At the south end of 
the lane stood the little school of 1735, on a lot one rod square, and used for 
100 years. 

31. Wyckoff House (i8th century), on the hill above Rapalye 
Street, on the site of the house of Simon Joosten, to whom 54 
acres were granted in 1654. It was bought by the Lawrences, 
held until 1732, and then sold to Cornelius Wyckoff. (It is now 
called the Peter Rapalye House.) 

32. Kouwenhoven House (late 17th century), on the site of the 
first residence of the Lawrences, who bought up in all 700-800 
acres. In 1732 it was sold to Wm. Leverich, who held it for some 
years. 

22>- Burial ground of the Lawrence and Leverich families, 
nearly opposite 32, well kept and crowded with monuments. 

Return by Stciuzvay car to Thirty-fourth Street Ferry or transfer to 

Astoria. 



285 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




To F /uahin^ _^ 

MA 5P£ T/^ \ Z AU/?£l ///IL 



Plate LVII. Route 46, 



C. K 



286 



QUEENS 



ROUTE 46 

SECTION III.— MASPETH AND LAUREL HILL. ' 
(Figures refer to Plate LVII; letters to LIV.) 

Take Grand Street car from Manhattan terminus of Williamsburg 
Bridge, or Flushing Avenue (Newtown) car from Brooklyn Bridge to 
Old Flushing Road. From here may be made a side trip south (see 
below). 

k-k. Road from the Ferry (Flushing and Covert Avenues, along east shore of 
Maspeth Kill, to the bowery of Joris Rapalye and Hans Hansen (Bergen), 
scene of Doughty's first settlement. The road was laid out by the Dutch 
settlers in 1642. In 1643 they were attacked by Indians, when most of the 
houses were destroyed, few ever being reoccupied. 

Walk west, crossing L. I. R. R. Tracks to 

34. Queens Head Tavern, southeast corner Maspeth and Flush- 
ing Avenues, built supposedly by the town and leased by various 
landlords. It became a resort for soldiers during the Revolution, 
later was a well-known stage house and is still in good repair as 
a private house. 

35. DeWitt Clinton House, (diagionally opposite) built about 
1725 by Joseph Sackett, Judge of Common Pleas. Riker claims 
that it was afterward the residence of Walter Franklin, an opu- 
lent New York merchant, till his death in 1780, and after him of 
Colonel Corsa, of French and Indian War fame. DeWitt Clin- 
ton married a daughter of Franklin, a niece of Corsa. 

36. The Town Dock stood just west, under the L. I. R. R. tracks, on a 
salt-water inlet nearly silted up at present. Here farmers brought their produce 
to be loaded on shallow market boats for New York. It was laid out by the 
commissioners in September, 1722, and used until the Revolution, when it be- 
came a landing place for British supplies. General Warren having headquarters 
in the Clinton House. In 1792 the Town voted to rebuild the dock at public 
expense and to erect a store house here, dockmasters being elected annually. 
After the establishment of steam ferries it gradually fell into disuse and was 
finally abandoned in 1865, rapidly going to decay. 

37. Site of Way Farmhouse on the knoll west of the dock, the original home- 
stead of that family in Newtown. In 181 5 the Furmans bought the place and 
erected a pretentious mansion, now demolished, on the site. Two rooms were 
papered with scenes from Telemachus and Parisian views. See the Mott Pri- 
vate Burying Ground near by. A later Furman House remains across the 
street. 

E. Smith's Island (now called Furman Island), named from either Richard 
Smith (a partner of Francis Doughty in the first town patent) or Hendrick 
Barent Smith, an early settler whose land ran from Flushing Avenue. Here 
the Dutch laid out the village of Arnhem. 

287 



Route 46 HISTORICAL GUIDE Maspeth 

Go hack to 35 and zvalk north on Bctts Avenue, passing on the left 

38. Underbill Covert Farmhouse, with several old barns, dat- 
ing back to the early i8th Century. John Denman first located 
here about 1662. 

39. Site of the Betts Homestead, recently torn down to make way for the 
Mt. Zion Cemetery, northeast corner Newtown and Betts Avenues, Here Cap- 
tain Betts located in 1652, and here he lived until his death at the age of 100 
in 1713. 

1. Old Brook School Road (including part of Newtown Avenue), used as a 
short cut to Calamus Creek and existing in 1682. Later it was extended south. 

40. Site of the Old Brook School House, built about 1739, and only lately 
removed. 

m-m. Fresh Pond Road, so-called from a large pond now filled at the south- 
east angle of this road and Mt. Olivet Avenue. It was laid out about 1680 
to give access to disputed lands near the present cemeteries of Cypress Hills 
and the Evergreens. 

S. Tract at junction of Fresh Pond Road and Cooper Avenue, divided and 
settled in 1684 to prevent encroachment by Dutch settlers of adjacent towns. 

n-n. Calamus Road, the original road from the landing on Mespat Kill 
(Newtown Creek) to Middelburg, opened about 1651, being the first line of 
communication with New Amsterdam. It was later known as the Lower Road 
to Brooklyn Ferry, the Upper Road (modern Grand Street and Maspeth 
Avenue) being laid out nearly half a century later. The calamus in the ad- 
jacent swamps gave rise to its name. On it remain several old farmhouses. 

F. The Maurice Woods, property of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the 
Diocese of Long Island, the gift of Congressman Maurice. The trees have 
probably stood since the Revolution, when much of the Newtown forests were 
cut by the British. 

0-0. This portion of Betts Avenue was originally a wood lane of the extensive 
Betts estate, later an open road known as Featherbed Lane. 

Walk west on Newtozvn Avenue, passing 

41. Alburtis House, on Laurel Hill Road, possibly including 
the frame of the house of Thos. Case, an eccentric Quaker, organizer 
of a strange religious sect, known as Case's Crew. His wife inter- 
rupted the service in Rev. Wm. Leverich's church at Newtown in 
1675, addressing him as a " whited sepulchre," and demanding his 
resignation (Riker, p. 92). John Alburtis bought the land in 1682, 
and his family held it for over a century, 

42. Peter Debevoise House, corner Newtown and Celtic Av- 
enues (now the property of Hugh McCullough), dating back to 
about 1780. Opposite, on Celtic Avenue, stands another Debe- 
vois©» House of about the same age. Both are well preserved. 

The Newtown and Bushwick Turnpike (Shell Road) was opened 
about 1840 (see p. 298). 

Return by trolley to Hunter's Point. 



288 



QUEENS 



ROUTE 46a. 

SIDE TRIP SOUTH ON FLUSHING AVENUE. 

(See also Excursion XII, Section 3). 

Walk south on Old Fnshing Road to Onderdonck Avenue. 

43. Cluster of old houses, marking some of the earliest settle- 
ments of Newtown, two on the west side of the road being well 
preserved: 

a. The Woodward or Woodard House, opposite the end of 
Woodward Avenue, supposed to have been built by Joseph Wood- 
ward about 1750, on a large farm containing a great orchard and 
cidermill. It previously belonged to the Schencks, whose mill- 
pond can yet be distinguished by a circle of decaying willow 
trunks. 

b. The Wyckoff Farmhouse, just south, on the site of the 
house of Hendrick Barentsen Smit (see E), one of the first set- 
tlers. After a boundary struggle of over 100 years between the 
towns of Bushwick and Newtown, his farm was finally adjudged 
to be in Newtown, and on January 10, 1769, the line was fixed at 
Arbitration Rock, on the edge of the nearby swamp. 

Take car on Flushing Avenue to Park Rozv, ManJiattan. 



289 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate LVIII. Routes 47, 48, 50. 
290 



C. K. 



QUEENS 

ROUTE 47. 

SECTION IV.— HUNTER'S POINT AND WOODSIDE TO 

CORONA. 

(Figures refer to Plate LV, letters to LI). 

Take Jackson Avenue Trolley to Woodsidc car hams. 

Jackson Avenue was laid out about i860 as a toll road to 
Flushing. 

See along it three" milestones marked respectively: "2 miles." 
"3 miles" and "5 miles from 34th Street Ferry" (4, 3 and 1 
mile from Flushing Bridge). 

p-p. Site of the British Camp, along the Dutch Kills Road, traces of huts 
being visible until recently. 

44. Tlie Narrow Passage, a tongue of dry land crossing formerly almost im- 
passable sv/ainps (now mostly drained), and occupied by the early road. It 
was an important strategical point in the Revolution and was guarded by the 
British. 

P. The Wolf Swamp, a wet woodland until 1866-7, in early days infested by 
wolves. It is now drained in part and divided into lots forming part of 
Woodside. 

q-q. Ancient road forming Middelburg and part of Woodside and Bowery 
Bay Avenues, connecting plantations of Bowery Bay and Dutch Kills, opened 
about 1655-60. 

r-r. Woodside Avenue, from the town (Middelburg) to the Dutch settle- 
ments. 

45. Jackson Mansion (corner Jackson Avenue and Bowery 
Bay Road), in large grounds, surrounded by the remains of an 
old forest. The house was built about 1802 by Wm. Paynter, 
owner of the estate. 

Go north on the Bozvery Bay Road (behind 45). 

46. Site of the Moore Farmhouse (several blocks east on Jamaica 
Avenue), adjoining the small burying ground now marked by some 
decaying evergreens. During the Revolution this property was owned 
by Nathaniel Moore, great-grandson of Rev. John IMoore, first minis- 
ter of the town. It was taken by the British after the Battle of Long 
Island and became the headquarters of Lieutenant-General Sir Henry 
Clinton. A straggling suburban settlement now occupies the farm. 

47. Purdy Farmhouse (opposite Grand Avenue), built shortly 
before the Revolution and scene of the shooting of one of the 
soldiers of the Royal Highlanders Regiment (the " Black Watch ") 
while on a marauding expedition, by one of the slaves of Cornelius 
Rapalye, then owner (Riker, p. 207). 

48. Riker Farmhouse (opposite Wilson Avenue), on property 
purchased in 1688 by Abraham Rycker (or Riker), who owned 
the farm north. In 1717 his son Abraham built the small house 

291 



Route 47 HISTORICAL GUIDE Woodside 

which forms the middle of the present building. In the Revolu- 
tion it was owned by his son, Jacobus Riker. In 1776 the house 
was plundered by the British, and later the Hessian troops en- 
camped near by used the great oven to bake their bread. 

Return to Jackson Avenue and go east on Newtown Avenue, passing 

school-house to Betts Avenue; turn to the right; Newtown 

here becomes Woodside Avenue. 

49. The old Town Spring or Watering Place (Woodside and 
Betts Avenues), on high ground 125 feet to the west of the road. 
Originally it was known as Rattlesnake Spring, then Newton's 
Spring, from Captain Bryan Newton, in the Dutch service at 
New Amsterdam, who had in 1652 a patent for the land running 
up to it. It still has a large flow. There was once a large tank 
or pool by the roadside for public use, but this plot, 100 feet 
square, has been enclosed as private property, whether without 
extinguishing public rights is not known. 

50. The Cumberson House, just south, post-Revolutionary, re- 
placing one of earlier date, was plundered by the British and later, 
near the close of the war, was attacked at night by British de- 
serters, one of whom was shot fatally by Thos. Cumberson, then 
owner (Riker, p. 213). 

Return to Jackson Avenue and take trolley to 
s-s. Trains Meadow Road and Old Bowery Road, laid out before 1678. 

51. Hazard (later Duryea) Homestead, at the corner. The 
farm was owned as early as 1740 by Jas. Hazard, prominent in 
the Episcopal Church of Newtown. 

52. Rapalye House, of the middle i8th century. Daniel Rap- 
alye had a large farm here about 1737, but this house seems of a 
somewhat later date. 

Keep to right past 52, to Junction Avenue; follow trolley tracks to 
right, across Jackson Avenue. 

t-t was a road from the town to Peter Cornelissen's mill, opened about 1700. 
The two large mansions of Colonial style on the west side date about 1840 
and occupy parts of the large farm of Colonel Edward Leverich a projector of 
the L. I. R. R. They are: 

53. Late residence of Chas. P. Leverich, once president of the 
Bank of New York, now deceased. 

54. Late residence of Henry S. Leverich, now deceased. 

55. Fish's Store (now closed), just across the Flushing Road, 
a curious shingled building occupied as a storehouse by Thos. 
Fish about i8oo-'20. 

292 



Corona QUEENS 47 Route 

H. Site of the Fashion Race Course, the principal race course near New York 
1850-65, later supplanted by Jerome Park. The surrounding brick wall has 
mostly disappeared and the track has been cut up into lots. 

I, I. Original home lots of first settlers of Middelburg 

L. L. On the west broad market gardens occupy what was once the Common 
Fields of the first settlers of Middelburg. 

Return to Jackson Avenue and continue on car to 
56. Lent Farmhouse, at the angle of Flushing and Jackson 
Avenues (Montgomery Street), overlooking Flushing Bay, re- 
cently rebuilt and remodeled, probably on the site of the earlier 
house of John Ramsden, one of the first settlers, v^ho died here 
soon after 1688. The second house v^as erected about 1712, a 
giant sycamore which overshadowed it having been preserved. 
During the Revolution it was occupieci by Captain Thos. Law- 
rence. The 37th British Regiment was encamped here, i78o-'8i, 
to guard it against the attacks of " whaleboat men" from the 
mainland. 

J. Jonckers Island (south shore of Flushing Bay), named for 
"Joncker" (lord) Adriaen Vanderdonck (first settler of Yonkers), 
son-in-law of Rev. Francis Doughty (see 15, Sect. I). It was once 
well wooded land and a picnic resort of some fifty years ago known 
as St. Roman's Well. The trees have disappeared '^ and much build- 
ing sand has been carried away from the " island." 

57. Site of Rapalye House, on the south side 9f Flushing and Newtown 
Turnpike, on the farm occupied by Cornelius Berrien and his brother-in-law, 
Abraham Brinckerhoof, soon after 1684; later by Joris Rapalye, a brewer, and 
his descendants; though long untenanted, it was kept in good condition by the 
Elliot family on whose grounds it stood until burned in 1906. 

Co Up Summit Avenue and take Grand Street trolley to Corona 
Station. Return by L. I. R. R, or take Section V. 



293 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



ROUTE 48. 

SIDE TRIP.— CORONA TO COE'S MILL. 

From Corona Station go east on 
u-u. Newtown and Corona Avenues, from the town to Coe's Mill, 
laid out on the line of the original road soon after the settlement of 
the town. 

58. Burroughs Farmhouse (i8th Century), well preserved, on 
Newtown, between Mulberry and Sycamore Avenues. The fields 
of this farm included much of the village. 

59. The ancient Coe Farmhouse and Coe's Mill or New Coe's 
Mill Hotel, opposite, three blocks beyond Strong's Causeway. 
The house dates back to about 1750 and the mill was established 
by Captain John Coe about 1652, being shown on the Hubbard 
Map of 1666. It remained in the family until nearly the Revolu- 
tionary period, since which time it has been called Titus', Rap- 
alye's or Carll's Mill and operated until lately. 

60. The Lott House, about 100 years old, well preserved, is 
just across the creek. 

61. Town Watering Place, dating from latter half of 17th Century, the 
springs being collectea from over two acres in an old stoned tank now filled 
with soil. 

v-v. and w-w. Supposed route of original roads from Middelburg to Coe's 
Mill and to Jamaica, changed about 1750. 



294 



QUEENS 

ROUTE 50. 

SECTION v.— MIDDLE VILLAGE. 

(Figures refer to Plate LVIII, and letters to LIV). 

Take Calvary Cemetery car from Thirty-fourth Street Ferry to Luth- 
eran Cemetery, terminus of route on Metropolitan Avenue. 
Go to left to Cemetery Gate 

And from the top of the hill note view of this district. See old 
house. 

Return and go east on Metropolitan Avenue, passing 

A new Methodist Church (note tablet) to St. John's Cemetery. 
Here go to the left on Dry Harbor Road, passing the Methodist 
Cemetery and site of the old Methodist Church and crossing Furmans- 
ville Road to the 

62. House of the late Judge Furman. The road was so called 
because it terminated in a cluster of farms. The house (of about 
1750) faced a large pond, lately filled, surrounded by great black 
walnut trees, now mostly destroyed. 

Go east on Furmansville (now called Middle Village) Road to Trot- 
ting Course Lane, passing two old houses. 

63. Tompkins Farmhouse, one-quarter mile north on a hill, on 
the west side of the road, built about 1760 by Samuel Waldron. 
During the winter of i78o-'8i the Royal Highland Regiment was 
quartered here, forcing Waldron to give up to them the use of 
his blacksmith's shop and committing great depredations in the 
locality. 

Go south on Trotting Course Lane 

(leading to the South Meadows, laid out in 1668, and receiving its present 
name in 1821, after the laying out of the Union Race Course.) 

A short distance east on the Whitepot Road see 

64. Whitepot School, first established here in 1739, this being 
the fourth or fifth building. 

65. Springsteen Homestead, beyond the L. I. R. R. bridge, 

where Casper Joost Springsteen settled in 1700. Much of the 

land around still belongs to the family. 

y-y. Whitepot Road, laid out early in the 18th Century. See several old 
farmhouses. The 'jfr-ord " pot " is probably a corruption of the Dutch " put," 
meaning " pit " or " hollow." It was the bed of a large stream long since 
driecj ,up. 

295 



Route 50 HISTORICAL GUIDE Middle Village 

Return and go south on Trotting Course Lane. 

66. Van Duyn Homestead, in neglected grounds now owned 
by St. John's Cemetery. The Van Duyns were original settlers 
here, Captain Dow Van Duyn being active in the Royal service 
during the Revolution. In consequence the farm was confiscated 
by the state government after the war and sold to Thos. McFar- 
ran, a New York merchant. The house passed through several 
hands and for a time was untenanted and considered haunted. 
In 1778-79 it was the guardhouse of the Royal Highlanders. Later, 
it was for some time used in connection with a large dairy. 

]\I. Hempstead Swamp, lands allotted and clearing begun about 1670, when 
draining began. 

67. Remsen Farmhouse, one-quarter mile south on the op- 
posite side of the road. This is possibly part of the original 
dwelling of Abraham Remsen, who in 1712 aided in clearing 
Hempstead Swamp. His grandson, Jeromus Remsen, Jr., was 
Colonel of a regiment of Kings and Queens County Militia at 
the Battle of Long Island. The family were under constant 
British surveillance and the farm suffered many depredations 
(Riker, p. 188). 

68. Site of the Dow Siiydam Farmhouse, built just below about 1736, and 
destroyed by fire a few years ago. 

69. Van Duyn Homestead. William Van Duyn cleared the land and settled 
here about 17 19, the family prospered and built the present dwelling before 
the Revolution. Shortly before that the estate was divided and while the north 
half was confiscated (see 66), the south remained in the family. It was the 
last cleared land in this direction, running into forests reserved as hunting 
grounds by the Indians in their deed to Middelburg (1656), now forming Cypress 
Hills Cemetery and Forest Park, the latter being laid out about 1898. 

Go south to Myrtle Avenue and return hy trolley. 



896 



QUEENS 

ROUTE 49. 

SECTION VI. 

THE VILLAGE OF NEWTOWN (ELMHURST) CALLED MID- 
DELBURGH BY THE DUTCH 

(Figures refer to Plate LIX). 

Take L. I. R. R. {Thirty- fourth Street Ferry) to Elmhurst; or N. Y. 

and Queens County Electric R. R. from foot Borden 

Avenue, Long Island City (Thirty-fourth Street), to 

Elmhurst; leave car at Shell Road. 

This village was settled early in 1652 (Riker's statement, Annals of New- 
town, p. 27). That it " was begun upon the street where the Presbyterian 
Church now stands, on both sides of which lots were laid out " is so in- 
accurate as to be entirely misleading. The house lots were laid out on the 
south side of the street (now Hoffman Avenue), and on the north side of 
Court Street, the intervening space being occupied by a wet tract traversed by 
the small Horse Brook. The lots laid out in this space (about an acre or two 
each) were intended only for pasturage, and were so used for nearly a century. 
Then some small houses were built, a few of which have survived, giving an 
antiquated air to the neighborhood, while most of the other old houses have 
disappeared. 

Unfortunately the historic name was changed to Elmhurst a few years ago 
to satisfy the fancy of a real estate speculator. 

The itinerary begins at the north end of the old village, beyond 
the railroad station. Here at the northwest angle of Broadway and 
Shell Road see 

1. Moore House, the middle portion being probabl}^ the orig- 
inal home of Samuel Moore, son of Rev. John Moore, first min- 
ister at Newtown. The latter died in 1657, in occupation of the 
"town house" (10), his family being asked by Stuyvesant to va- 
cate in February, 1661 (as it was public property), in favor of 
the newly-appointed schoolmaster. This date thus approximately 
fixes the date of this house, making it contemporaneous with the 
Bowne house of Flushing (14, Sec. VII), these being two of the 
oldest known houses in the vicinity of New York. In one of 
the records the " barn lot " of this farm is spoken of in 1663, im- 
plying the existence of the house before that time. The property 
has always remained in the family of the original owner. 

2. Woodward (later Vietor) House (the north wing, i8th cen- 
tury). 

The original homestead (torn down about 1880) stood some distance north, 
the farm having been in the family from 1666. The barn was occupied by the 
British as a hospital and was the scene of the shooting by Thos. Woodward of 
a British soldier for stealing poultry (Riker, p. 214). 

3. Flushing Road, opened about 1815 and long maintained as a 
plank road. 

297 



Route 49 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



Newtown 




Plate LIX. Route 49. 



4. Shell Road, constructed about 1840 of crushed oj^ster shells. 

5. Site of the house of Daniel Bloomfield, a resident before 1666. In 1S40, 
after passing through many hands, it came to Samuel Lor.l, head of the old 
New York dry goods house of Lord & Taylor. Though carefully preserved ^by 
the Lords, after building a large residence east of it, it was burned in 1872. 

6. Formerly a small brook occupied the line of the electric road. 

7. Old Town Watering Place, a small pond for watering cat- 
tle, referred to in 1820 as having been in use " from time im- 
memorial." It was enclosed by Samuel Lord in 1842 by permis- 
sion. 

8. Clermont Terrace, built, 1850, by Samuel Lord as model 
suburban residences. 



9. Site of the "new house" (so-called in 1689) of Content Titus, who had 
bought the old "town house" (10) in 1672, where he resided for a time. 
At a town meeting in 1689 it was resolved that the records be kept in this 

new house." The house passed to his daughter Abigail, her husband, 
George Furniss, and through many other hands until destroyed, 1905-6. 

298 



Nev/town QUEENS 49 Rou'.e 

10. Site of the ancient Town House of Midilclburg or Newtown, built about 
1654 to be used as a parsonage, for public meetings, and the holding of re- 
ligious services, and first occupied by Rev. John iMoore. After his death 
in 1657, the widow remained in possession of tlie ])remises, including 20 acres. 
She married later Francis Doughty, son of Rev. Francis Doughty, the first 
patentee of Newtown. In 1661, on the appeal that this was public property, 
Stuyvesant ordered Doughty to give up the jiremises. In 1662 the building was 
repaired and newly thatched, two rooms being then lathed and plastered. In 
1665, at a meeting of deputies from Long Island towns at Hempstead to settle 
various disputes. Governor Nicoll and the Assembly awarded the property again 
to Mrs. Doughty. In 1672 Content Titus, son of a New England pioneer and 
a new resident, married Mrs. Doughty's daughter by Rev. John Moore, and 
bought the premises. He spent a Long and active life here, dying in 1730. 
For some time he allowed the town the use of the house for public meetings. 
The property was sold to Wm. Sackett, and in 1761 he left a large part of it, 
including the house, to St. James Episcopal Church, apparently as a rectory.' 
There being no separate rector until 1797 (when Rev. Henry Van Dyke came), 
it was probably leased out. The English traveler, John Davis, wrote an in- 
teresting description in 1798 of the house. The date of its destruction is vin- 
known. The present building is quite modern (about 1840). 

11, 12. The present parsonage (separated by a narrow lane 
from 10) and the modern St. James Church, dedicated in 1849, 
when the old church (23) was abandoned. 

13, 14. Meadow of the Church of St. James, and lane leading 
thereto devised to the church by Wm. Sackett in 1761. Part of the 
meadow, fronting Main Street, has been built on for 50 years or 
more. 

15. Site of the second Town House of Newtown, built about 1677, and first 
used as a parsonage until 1695, when a house was purchased for the new 
minister. As the church was frequently without a pastor, it was probably 
occupied as a school and for town business. In 1747 it was sviperseded by a 
third Town House immediately adjacent, which was used until 1805, when a 
fourth was erected on the site of 15, remaining in use until 1851 (24a). 

The Newtown Hotel occupies the site of these buildings. 

15. The Little Commons (marked on plan x x x x) remained common 
until sold at auction in 1849, most of it being previously occupied by the 
Town House, etc., and a plot given the congregation of St. James for its first 
church; the bulk was leased for pasturage, etc. 

16. The Dutch Reformed Church, built in 1733, octagonal in 
shape, with a high pitched roof, and used in the Revolution as a 
British powder magazine. It was taken down in 1831 and the 
present building erected in 1832. 

Go east on Union Avenue formerly 

17. Dutch Church Lane, or Dutch Lane, leading from the church to the old 
Common Field of the first settlers. Widened and extended in 1824-27 and now 
called Union Avenue. 

18. Negro Burial Ground, set apart by the town in 18 18, now occupied by 
an African church. The old lane (17)' here took an abrupt turn (19) and the 
closed portion with a small grove adjoining was probably given for this purpose, 
on the straightening of the lane at the period named. 

20. Tlie Commons or North Common Field for the heavier crops, grain, to- 
bacco, Indian corn, etc., where division fences need not be maintained, and 
where settlers could work in a body for security against Indian attacks; the 
" home lots " of 6-10 acres being used for small crops, houses, barns, pasturage, 
etc. It was laid out about 1663, north and east of points marked on plan. 
The land was divided about 1700. 

299 



Route 49 HISTORICAL GUIDE Newtown 

joa. Ludlow House, probably the only old house built (.alnuit 
the end o( the Revolution) in the Commons Tract, on land owned 
in 1738 by Samuel Fish, who resided in the center of the village. 

21. Maj'Gcn. Robertson's Cinnf. the British armv entering Newtown Aug. 30. 
177b, three ilavs after the Battle of Long Islamf. At night tliey are said to 
have committed great depredations (Riker, p. 190). 

Return to Broadicay. 

22. Site of old Xezctezftt Hotel (about 100 feet from corner of Cook Avenue 
and Broadway), a tavern of the early 19th century on land now belonging to 
the Reformed Church. 

J^. The original St. James Episcopal Church, built i7;^5 on 
land granted by the town. It is well preserved and was used 
until the present church {12) was erected: still in use on special 
occasions. The steeple at the west end was taken down a few 
years ago. 

24. Small neglected Burying Ground in rear of the church. 
24a. Sixth Town Hall Oi<-^\\' ^^ police station since consolidation), 

built 1893 on the site of the fifth Toum Hall, erected 1851. The latter 
was an impretentious structure, on the south side of which was later 
erected a small one-story brick Town Clerk's Ot^ce. The lot was 
originally an open space in the roads. 

25. The Tozvit Sf-ring at the rear of 24 (now filled) and used till 24a. was 
built. 

2b. Site of the Howard Farmhouse (removed about 18S6"). on the home " lot 
of John Reeder. an original settler. It was probably the site of Rocdcr's 
house, built toward the end of the 17th century. 

(7() cast on Court Street. 

27. The Horse Brook, where the townspeople watered their 
horses. 

28. Early 19th Century house on the site of the house of 
Joseph Reeder, an old inhabitant whose family kept the property 
till 1736, when they removed to Orange County. 

28a. View of old village from Prospect and Chicago Avenues. 

29. Col. Bernardus Bloom's Farmhouse, on the farm composed 
in part of 3 home lots bought by Col. Bloom in 174J. The farm 
originally consisted of 40 acres purchased by John Rrinckerhoof 
soon after 1700. It was long in the possession of the Suytlams 
and has umlergone several changes. 

30. Old Town Burial Ground, in which most of the first set- 
tlers were buried. In U)oi the remains of the hrst three pastors 
and two prominent laymen, including Content Titus (see 10), 

300 



Ilewtown QUEENS 49 Route 

were reinterrcd in the Presbyterian burial grounrl. Spasmodic, 
but unsuccessful, attempts have been made to clear the ground 
and put it in order. 

30a. The so-called Burroughs House (about 1700), on the site 
of the home of Wm. Stevenson, sold by him to Richard Betts in 
1742, and in the Betts family for nearly a century. It stands 
just west of the site of the house of John Burroughs, an original 
r,ettler, long the Town Clerk. In 1674, for sending a communi- 
cation to Gov. Andros reflecting on the Government, he was or- 
dered to be fastened for an hour to the whipping post in front 
of the City Hall in New York with a paper on his breast setting 
forth his offence (Riker, p. 91). 

30b. Colonial House (about 1750), on the site of the house of 
Edward Jessup, an original settler, whose extensive farm was 
considered to mark the end of the town, as in 1660 a thief was 
sentenced to walk from the Town House through the village 
" with two rods under each arm, and the drum beating before 
him until he comes to Mr. Jessup's House." 

Return to Broadway. 
SI. The Corner House (Broadway and Hofifman Avenue), 
erected about 1716 by Jonathan Fish, who had here a tavern 
famous for a century, his son, Samuel, keeping it (1723-67). In 
1756 some Acadian exiles were boarded here by the authorities. 
During the Revolution it was kept by Abraham Rapalye, a head- 
(juarters of loyalists, refugees and British officers and men, when 
its ballroom on the upper floor was the scene of much gaiety. 
In 1776 Wm. Sackett, a prominent " rebel " here under arrest, 
escaped after getting his guards drunk. After the war it was 
called the Union Hotel, but was purchased with 11 acres of 
ground in 1817 by the Presbyterian Church, and used until 1821 
as a parsonage, when it was sold and used first as a store and 
then for a long period as a private residence. (There is a mod- 
ern house on the present corner.) 

It stands on the site of the house of Ralph Hunt, an original settler. In 
1668 this house and outbuildings were burned, and in 1671 Hunt gave land for 
the construction of the first church building in Newtown, services having pre- 
viously been held in the Town House, which was just then decided to be 
private property (see 10). 

In this church (enlarged in 1694) Lord Cornbury inducted, against the will 
of the i)eople, Rev. Wm. Urquhart, an Episcopal clergyman. I-Vjr preaching in 
it in 1707, a visiting Presbyterian minister, Rev. John Hampton, was by Corn- 
bury's warrant arrested and imprisoned in New York. In 1715 the church, 
again in the hands of the people, was formally reorganized as Presbyterian. In 
1716 the new church was built (see 32). 

301 



Route 49 HISTORICAL GUIDE Newtown 

Go west on Hoffman Boulevard to Maurice Avenue; follozv the latter 
across the L. I. R. R. track and zvalk across lots to the left. 

31C. Farmhouse of Jonathan Hunt (?) dating perhaps from 
1700. 

Return via Calamus Road (passing several old houses) to Broad- 
way and turn to the left at Hoffman Boulevard. 

31 a-b. Old Road to the Ferry or Calamus Road. 

x-x. Hoffman Boulevard to Rusdorp (Jamaica) laid out before the i8th 
Century. 

3 id. Upper Road to the Ferry, laid out about 1696, along which Aug. 30, 
1776, Maj-Gen. Robertson's detachment entered Newtown, " driving before 
them large quantities of cattle " (Riker, p. 190). 

Return to Jamaica Road. 

2,2. The old Presbyterian Church and burial ground, erected 
1716 (see 31). After the British entry much damage was done 
this church by the loyalists, because the Presbyterians as a rule 
favored the American cause. Part of the steeple was sawn off 
and lowered to the ground at night by a band o'f young men; the 
building was then used as a guard house and military prison, and 
afterward demolished. The present structure was built 1787-91 
and is still used on special occasions. The stone church opposite 
was made possible by a special bequest in 1893. 

33. Presbyterian Parsonage, built 1821 on the site of an or- 
chard belonging to the "Corner House" (31), where Whitefield 
preached in 1764 to a large congregation. 

34. Large house end of i8th Century, buildej* unknown. 

35. Horse Brook Road (see 27). 

Z6. Site of the Bark Mill and Pond of Wm. V alienee, 1721. The house here 
may be of the same date, but reconstructed. The pond is now drained. 

Return to Hoffman Boulevard. 

37. House of Samuel Renne, or the Brettoniere House (from 
a later owner), now completely modernized, formerly of Colonial 
style and pre-Revolutionary. It is the second house from the 
corner of Brettoniere Street. It was for a time the headquarters 
of Sir William Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces, 
and from this house he sent an account of the Battle of Long 
Island to Lord Germain in England. 

38. Site of the encampment of 23d Regiment or the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 
vestiges of whose huts have been found on the hill behind 27- 

38a. Site of the Baptist Church, erected about 1809, long closed. In 1857 
it was removed to another site and known as " Association Hall," now on 
Thompson Avenue. 

302 



Newtown • QUEENS 43 Route 

39. Site of the Quaker Meeting-House, erected 1722 and burned 1844. 

40. Site of the so-called House of Jacob Field, a small one-story stone building 
with loopholes in the garret; probably the home of an original settler; removed 
a few years ago. 

41. Road to South Meadows, opened 1668. 

42. Modern house on the site of James Smith's house (an original settler) 
built about 1700, and recently torn down. Several other small cottages stood 
between this and 43 but were early demolished, these lands being consolidated 
to make up the Presbyterian parsonage farm. 

43. The Parsonage Farmhouse (sold 181 1 and then called the 
Thompson or Odekirk House) was built about 1750 on the site of 
the original parsonage (purchased by the congregation in 1695 with 
12 additional acres). The Town had previously (1678) set apart 50 
acres here for the minister's use. 

N. (On Plate LIV), is said to have been an artificial lake formed by beavers 
and covering the low grounds between Middelburg and modern Winfield. It 
was drained and divided among the inhabitants in 1678, at which time and 
long after it was known as Smith's Meadows. 



303 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 51 

SECTION VII.— FLUSHING. 

(Figures refer to Plate LX ; letters to LIV). 

Long Island or North Side Railroad to Flushing. 

Settlement begun, spring of 1645, by a small band of English colonists, given 
permission by the authorities at New Amsterdam. Although later a few Dutch 
arrived, the English always predominated. These settlers came to possess com- 
paratively large tracts of land, but settled together upon their " home lots " in 
the small village of Flushing. Unfortunately, the Town Records were destroyed 
by fire in 1789, together with the house of the Town Clerk, Jeremiah Vander- 
bilt, through the act of a negress slave, who was hanged therefor in the 
following year. The nearest village in early days in this part of Long Island 
being Hempstead, 15 miles distant through the forests, the only access of the 
settlers to the outside world (chiefly, of course, to New Amsterdam) for a few 
years was by water through the East River and Flushing Creek. 

OLD ROADS AND FAMOUS SITES IN FLUSHING VILLAGE 

a-a. Early Road, probably before 1650 (Main Street extended south), to in- 
tersect the road (once an Indian path from the Great Plains to the East River) 
made by Hempstead settlers to New Amsterdam. Part of it may have run 
much to the west of the present road. 

b-b. The Rocky Hill Road (following portions of Sanford, Parsons and Queens 
Avenues), leading to the southeast part of Flushing patent, intersecting the 
path to Hempstead and shortening the distance thereto. 

c-c. Fresh Meadow Road, branching south from bb, both being shown on 
the Hubbard Map of' 1666. 

d-d. Road to Whitest one (now Whitestone Avenue), one branch continuing 
east to several farms along shore at "The White Stone;" the other branch 
is the 

e.-e. Road to Lawrence Neck, now College Point. 

1. First Landing Place, later site of the Town Dock. A crooked lane (now 
Old Lawrence Street) led to the same and to 

2. Lawrence Homestead, supposed to have been on or near the site of the 
present Lawrence residence west of (New) Lawrence Street. 

3. The first dwellings, south side Bridge Street (originally the upper part of 
Lane to the Town Dock) and on both sides of Main Street near its head. 

4. The Town Pond originally on the site of the Public Square and vicinity; 
used for watering the cattle, etc. It received several springs east of Main 
Street, and ran off through swampy woodland to the north. It was filled up 
about 1843. 

5. The Block House (in 1704 called the Guard House) about on the present 
site of the New Armory, built for defense against the Indians in 1645. It 
was employed for town meetings and here, in 1646, the Rev. Francis Doughty 
preached until 1648, when, for derogatory remarks against the Dutch authorities 
at New Amsterdam, it was closed against him by the Schout. Here in 1704 
the Rev. Wm. Urquhart held the first Episcopal services in the town. In 1776 
the British pulled it down for firewood. On its site in 1827, the Orthodox 
Quakers (as opposed to the Hicksites, whose meeting-house stands still a little 
to the west) built their first place of worship. 

6. Site of Prince's Nursery (1737, see Waller's History of Flushing), in 1750 
famous and known as the Linnaean Botanic Garden (consisting of eight acres) 
forming part of Farrington's Neck on which (site unknown) stood the earliest 
tide mill of the town. 

During the Revolution the Garden was preserved by special efforts of the 
British officers. It was visited by Washington in the fall of 1789. In 1841 
Linnaeus (now Prince Street) was opened and the land given up to building. 

7. Site of the British Beacon or signal pole, line of Washington Street, west 
of Bowne Avenue. It was in line with one ten miles east on Sutton s Hill, 
Cow Neck (Manhasset) and another on Norwich Hill, south of Oyster Bay, 
eighteen miles distant. 

8. Site of British Battery, commanding the village on high ground opposite 
Bowne Avenue. 

304 



Flushing 



QUEENS 



51 Route 



A. FLUSHING VILLAGE. 

Itinerary begins at bridge of the Whitestone Branch of the L. I. R. R. 

9. Prince Mansion (later i8th Century), well preserved, cor- 
ner Bridge Street and Lawrence Avenue. 

10. Hamilton Hall, southwest corner Washington and Garden 
Streets, built originally at Main and Locust Streets, in 1803, as 
a parish academy by St. George's Episcopal parish, but, not meet- 
ing success, it was removed in 1810 to its present site. 

Go East on Broadway. 

11. Old Quaker Meeting-House, Broadway above Main Street, 
built 1694-5, on 3 acres bought 1692 by the Quakers for this pur- 
pose and a burial ground. In 1696 they held their Yearly Meet- 
ing here for the first time, and in 1702 the Rev. George Keith of 
the Church of England attempted to preach here, but was pre- 
vented. The building was shingled, plastered and repaired in 1704, 
and the Quaker records say a new building was erected in 1719, — 
meaning probably some addition. The British army used it as 




OLD rtUSHING VILLAGE 



Plate LX. Route 51. 
305 



Route 51 HISTORICAL GUIDE Flushing 

a barracks, hospital and store-house, but in 1783 it was repaired 
and restored to its original use (Onderdonck " Friends in New 
York and Long Island," pp. 94-95). 

Go West on Whitestone Avenue. 

12. Mitchell House, pre-Revolutionary, headquarters of Col. 
Hamilton of the British army, at the southeast corner Whitestone 
and Bayside Avenues. 

Return to Broadzvay. 

13.. Aspinwall House, south side of Broadway, east of Union 
Street, probably built by John Aspinwall (about 1760), a New 
York merchant, and a British headquarters in the Revolution. 

Go east on Bowne Avenue (formerly Bowne's Lane) 

14. Bowne Homestead, on an old lane now widened and called 
Bowne Avenue, corner Washington Street, one of the oldest, if 
not the oldest, of buildings extant in the vicinity of New York. 
It was built by John Bowne, an English Quaker, who settled here 
about 1655. For opening it for the Quaker conventicles he was 
arrested by the Dutch authorities in 1662 and sent, in 1663, for 
trial to Holland. But he was soon released, and he returned in 
1665 (after the surrender to the English), and his house 
continued to be used for Quaker meetings, the celebrated 
George Fox being entertained here in 1672 on his visit from Eng- 
land (see 15, Sect. VIII). It is now a historical museum under 
the care of Miss Parsons,* and contains much colonial furniture, 
copper, silver and brassware, wearing apparel, etc. The sides of 
the house are covered with hand-made shingles. 

15. Fox Oaks, once nearly opposite the Bowne House, now 
marked by a tablet on a boulder at the edge of the street (erected 
by the Flushing Historical Society, October 12, 1907), stating the 
fact that George Fox (founder of the Society of Friends) preached 
here in 1762. 

Go down Washington to Main Street and walk south. 

16. Old house (end of i8th century), 27 Main Street, raised 
and a modern story placed beneath it. Other old houses similarly 
disguised may exist in the neighborhood. 

* Fee for admission 25 cents; address for information Miss Parsons, 371 
Broadway, Flusliing. 

306 



Flushing QUEENS 51 Route 

17. St. George's Episcopal Church (about 1850), and in front 
of the church built in 1812, still used for church purposes. The 
first Episcopal services were held in the Block House (see 5); 
then a church was built here in 1746, the land being given in 
1749 by Captain Hugh Wentworth, and the original building 
coinpleted in 1761 through the liberality of John Aspinwall (13). 

Tablet (erected in 1803) within the church, in memory of 
Francis Lewis, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was 
church warden here in 1765-90. 

18. Garretson House, east side, between Lincoln and Locust 
Streets (latter 17th Century), a well-preserved farm house. 

19. Flushing Institute (Amity Street)," built in 1827, later 
known as St. Ann's Hall, and in 1845 turned by Ezra Fairchild 
into a famous boarding school for boys. 

20. St. TJiomas Hall built 1838-9; became known later as St. 
Joseph's Academy for young ladies. 

21. Sanford Hall (Jamaica Avenue south of Franklin Place), 
originally the stately mansion of Nathan Sanford, Chancellor of 
the State of New York, who in 1822 bought up several farms 
fronting on the present Jamaica Avenue and built this house in 
1836. Dying soon after, the house, with its park-like grounds, 
running back to Parsons Avenue, came into the possession of Dr. 
John Macdonald, who here established a celebrated private in- 
sane asylum. 



307 



Route 51 HISTORICAL GUIDE Outlying Points 

OUTLYING POINTS. 

B. SOUTH OF FLUSHING VILLAGE. 

22. Tract of the Willctt family (southwest of the village and extending to 
the Jamaica line), separated from its outlying farms by Kissena Brook. The 
site of the homestead is not known, but Thos, Willett, an English soldier in 
the Dutch service at New Amsterdam, left two children, William and Thomas, 
by his wife Sarah, who later married Charles Bridges, an English officer under 
the Dutch, and called by them Carel van Brugge (New Amsterdam, p. 192 
et seq.). Bridges and his family became early residents of Flushing and he 
was one of the -patentees named in the Flushing town patent in 1664. He 
claimed some interest in the above tract of land whether in his own right or 
that of his wife. After his death in 1682, a patent was issued to his brother 
Thomas and to Thos. Willett, stepson of Charles Bridges. 

23. Willett Burial Ground is at north end of Cedar Grove Cemetery 
(reached by B. R T. trolley to entrance of Cemetery). 

24. Spring Hill Estate (Remsen Avenvie and Mill Road), of Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor (I"adwallader Colden, part of the Willett property bought by Colden in 
1762. He held the office of acting Governor of New York more than six years, 
between 1760- 1775, and spent his last days here. His son David aiding the 
British, the farm was sold tinder forfeiture after the war and has passed 
through several hands, not being well kept up of late years. 

Fresh Meadow Tract (south of Flushing Cemetery), was settled in early 

days and many British troops were quartered here in the Revolution. 

24. Site of Duryea Farm House, near the south end of Flushing Cemetery, 
serving as British headquarters. 

From (21) above go south to Forest Avenue, go three blocks to left 
and take Jamaica trolley to Fresh Meadozv Road. 

25. Lawrence House (Lawrence Road, east of Fresh Meadow 
Road). 

26. West House (west of Fresh Meadow Road, south of North 
Hempstead Road). 

27. Old house (corner Black Stump Road and Fresh Meadow 
Road). 

28. Wright Homestead (?), half a mile west on the Jamaica 
Road (south of North Hempstead Road), small, and perhaps dat- 
ing back to the early i8th Century. 

C SOUTHEAST CORNER OF FLUSHING TOWNSHIP. 
Best reached from Floral Park Station, L. I. R. R. 

20. Dongan or Earl of Limerick's Plantation, granted to Gov. Dongan in 
iwL;3 and including 400 acres of woodland, Hempstead adding 400 acres of wood- 
IjMid and prairie north of Floral Park and Hyde Park. He spent some time 
here and planned to entail it to his nephews, but it was sold after his death 
to pay his debts. Peter Smith, in 1720, bought the part containing the house, 
which lay on the east side of the road leading from Floral Park. 

30. Farm house of about 1750, well preserved, half a mile 
north of Jericho Turnpike, the only ancient house site on Don- 
gan tract. Probably Dongan's house 'was of a similar type, 
stories of his living in state in his " Manor of Queens Village " 
to the contrary notwithstanding. 

31. Strickland's Tavern; site (Jericho Turnpike and Rocky Hill Road) ante- 
dating the Revolution and plainly depicted on Stewart's Map of 1797, even the 
wagon sheds and sign boards being shown. 

308 



Murray Hill QUEENS 51 Route 

D. MURRAY HILL. 
Reached from Murray Hill Station, L. I. R. R. 

32. The W. Bowne residence (Mitchell Avenue and Fourth 
Street), formerly a stately mansion in a large grove, approached 
from Broadway by a wide drive shaded with tall elms. But 
streets have been cut through and sm.all houses erected near by, 
destroying the original picturesqueness. 

2,2- Murray Homestead, of Dutch Colonial style, built about 
1775, south side of Broadway, east of Murray Lane, Murray Hill, 
and the home of the family connected with the Murrays of Mur- 
ray Hill, Manhattan (Exc. V, Section IV); the present Mr. Joseph 
K. Murray is a great-grandson of the famous Mrs. Murray, who 
aided in the saving of Washington. 

E. COLLEGE POINT AND WHITESTONE. 

{Reached from College Point Station, L. I. R. R., or College Point 

trolley, from Thirty-fourth Street Ferry to Thirteenth 

Street and Third Avenue, College Point; turn 

to the right up Third Avenue.) 

34. Lawrence Farmhouse, on the Lawrence Neck Road, 
now Third Avenue and Twenty-first Street, College Point, east 
of the railroad crossing. It is of the Eighteenth Century; in 
fairly good condition. 

35. Wolf Pit Hill Farm, of the Powell family, in Whitestone, 
on the same road, east of Whitestone Road (probably about 1750). 

36. Old Landing and Ferry to Westchester, reached by a lane, traces of 
which remain west of the railroad, called Ferry Road. Here, December 15, 
1708, Governor Lovelace landed on his arrival after a rough passage from 
England. He reached New York by land two or three days later. June 17, 
1726, Francis Doughty and others received a patent for the exclusive right of 
maintaining a ferry from here to the mainland, although it had probably been 
a crossing-place for some time. 

37. Fort Hamilton, shown roughly on the Stewart Map as on the low bluff 
just east of the L. I. R. R. sheds. It was built by the British during their 
occupation of Long Island and named for Colonel Archibald Hamilton, of 
Flushing, a prominent British commander. Remains consisting of brick, 
masonry, etc., were unearthed here in December, 1907. 



309 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



ROUTE 52. 

SECTION yill.— JAMAICA. 
(See Plates LXI and LXII). 

As no complete history of this town has been written, the chief facts must 
be gleaned from memorials of the several churches, scattered records and old 
maps. The first settlers, all English, purchased the land from the Yemacah 
Indians (hence the name) and made the first settlement at the intersection of the 
Hempstead Road (to New Amsterdam ferry) with the Flushing Road. The 
Dutch authorities called the settlement " Rustdorp " (frequently spelled " Rus- 
dorp "), but this name was soon abandoned. The Yemacahs probably were lo- 
cated along the banks of the stream connecting Beaver Pond with Jamaica 
Bay. (For other historical notes see Historical Sketch.) 









fv.ttXS'C*' 




Plate LXI. Route 52. 

1. Site of Beaver Pond (now filled), once occupying the space between 
Beaver, South and Church Streets and Rockaway Road. 

2. The Parsonage Lot (east angle Fulton and Beaver Streets, extending to- 
ward i), reserved from the beginning, and on which was erected a parsonage in 
or about 1662. It was used for other town purposes, including the 

3. Town Burial Ground, occasioning a long contention between 
the Presbyterians and the less numerous Episcopalians, Lord 
Cornbury confiscating it for the use of the latter. The Rev. Mr. 
Hubbard was accordingly ejected July 4, 1704, and the Rev. Wm. 

3^3 



Jamaica 



QUEENS 



52 Route 



Urquhart, the newly-appointed Episcopalian incumbent, although 
violently opposed by the townspeople, held it until 1710. Then, 
through the marriage of a Presbyterian theological student to 
the daughter of Urquhart's widow, it came back to the Presby- 
terians and was held by them until 1813, when sold. See the 
Memorial Chapel of the Laidlow family in the east end of the 
yard. 







g 



3D 




DDai7ZI0 



■cnczD 

SoDDDi 



% 



°n>n n °s°°° ° n r 

yuDeoDDi 

nnnDQDDoc 



SS.c 






[J^UWCIamak^ 



w 



I KinsManor. 
H Dutch REFOttMEoCMonti 

II Episcopal ChoRC 
n Court House 
T Colonial. Hah. 
21 PREsatTERiAN Church 

SI NORMAi. SCKOOl- 



Plate LXII. Modern Jamaica. 
Walk north to Fulton Avenue. 



C. K. 



4. Site of the first Meeting and Sessions House, on what seems to have been 
originally part of the Parsonage Lot (west corner Fulton and Beaver Streets), 
built about 1663, and used for religious as well as town meetings (N. Y. 
Ecclesiastical Records, p. 1892); it was only 26 feet square. Governor NicoU 
having determined to organize Jamaica with adjoining territory for judicial and 
legislative purposes into " the West Riding of Yorkshire," proposed that the 
Long Island towns lay special taxes to erect a larger building at Jamaica as a 
Sessions and Meeting House. This was done in 1667, the new Sessions House 
and prison standing next to the old town house, which later was made an 
annex to the prison. Still later, the Jamaica Hotel occupied this spot for 
many years. 

Walk west on Fulton Street. 
5. The Dutch Church (corner Church Street), on the site of 
the first church (built 1716), an octagonal structure, and of the 
second (1832), burned in 1857. Previous to 1716 the congrega- 
tion worshipped with the Presbyterians in their temporary meet- 
ing house (see 12). See notice in front of the church with coat of 
arms and date of organization, 1702. 

311 



Route 52 HISTORICAL GUIDE Jamaica 

6. The King Mansion (incorrectly called " Manor," as there 
never was a " manor " in Queens County — it being inconsistent 
with the township system, under which this part was settled), 
erected about 1750, and in 1805 becomings the country seat of Ru- 
fus King, one of the first two New York senators; also of John 
A. King (son of Rufus), governor from 1856 to 1858. Though 
severely simple, this house formerly presented a very imposing 
appearance, owing to its extensive grounds, surrounded by a 
thick hedge of large forest trees. 

The grounds are now public property, known as King Park, 
and the mansion (bought by the town in 1896) is fitted up in part 
as a colonial museum under the care of the "King Manor Asso- 
ciation." It is free and open to the public on Mondays (for in- 
formation address Mrs. E. C. Chickering, Sec. King Manor As- 
sociation, Jamaica, ISI. Y.). 

Walk east on Fulton Street. 

7. Grace Episcopal Church (east of Church Street), on the site 
of the first church of 1734 and the second (1822), burned in 1861. 

8. Original site of Union Hall Academy (southwest corner Fulton and Wash- 
ington Streets), a famous edvicational institution (the third academic building 
on Long Island, after East Hampton and Flatbush), erected by voluntary con- 
tributions about 1792, and succeeded in 1820 by a larger edifice, the later 

9. Union Hall Academy (west side Union Hall Street, near L. 
I. R. R.), still standing and now used for dwellings. The old hall 
continued in use for some time as a female seminary, but was 
burned in 1841. The principal was Miss Eliza McHanna, a native 
of Ireland, who, in 1832, married the Rev. Wm. Thompson, an 
American missionary, whom she accompanied to the Holy Land, 
dying soon after in Jerusalem. 

10. Site of the Court House of 1709 (apparently occupying part of the site 
of the present County Clerk's Office), where in 17 10 the Episcopalians held serv- 
ices until 1734. A new Court House was built in 1786 near Mineola. 

11. Van Wyck House, southwest corner New York Avenue. 

12. Site of the first Presbyterian Church building (middle of Fulton Street, 
southwest of the present structure), " a stone church with a high spire and a 
bell," erected in 1699, but seized (July, 1703) by the Ejiiscopal rector, the Rev. 
Mr. Bartow, who was backed by Lord Cornbury. The latter forbade the 
Presbyterians to use it, but in 1708, after Gov. Lovelace's appointment, the two 
sects used it alternately, by advice of the colonial authorities. In 1710 the 
Episcopalians were excluded, and in 1727 the Presbyterian claims were con- 
firmed by the Court, and they used this building until the present church was 
built. 

13. The Presbyterian Church, erected 1814 (see 12). See tab- 
lets within containing names of former pastors. 

14. Colonial Hall (opposite 13) opened in 1843 as a female 
seminary, under Miss Mary Adrain, remodeled about 1897 by 
Ex-Sheriff Wm. C. Baker, to be used as a public hall and for club 
rooms, and now used as a boarding house. 

312 



Jamaica QUEENS 52 Route 

15. Site of Henry Townsend's House (northwest corner Clinton Avenue, 
where in 1657 he sheltered some Quakers who had come to New Amsterdam, 
presumably bound for Rhode Island. They had landed at Flushing, which 
they were compelled to leave, Wm. H'allett's banishment for harboring Baptists 
having proved the hostile attitude of the authorities. Finally John Bowne 
placed his house at their disposal. 

16. Site of the old windmill (see early plan of Jamaica) south of Fulton 
and east of Canal Street, a venerable round building, in later years used as 
a carpenter shop. Its wooden " wings " were blown down in 1841. 

OUTLYING POINTS NORTH OF FULTON STREET. 

17. Old House (i8th Century) southwest corner Flushing Av- 
enue and Willett Street. 

18. Site of Duke's Woods on the hill portion of the King Farm, where could 
once be seen the grave of " Duke," a negro slave, the inscribed headstone bat- 
tered with the bullets of thoughtless sportsmen. 

POINTS SOUTH OF FULTON STREET. 

19. Baisley's Mill Pond, near Locust Manor, where the bones 
of a mastodon brought here in the glacial drift were discovered 
in 1858. 

20. Duryea's Mill site, "Three Mile Mill" southwest of 19 near its outlet, 
famous in early days. 

21. Seat of Citi::en Genet, on the Rockaway Road, south of 19 (as shown on 
the Stewart Map of 179/) on a farm of 370 acres conveyed to him by his 
father-in-law, DeWitt Clinton, October 17, 1795. Although recalled by the 
French government at Washington's request, because of his insolence and 
arrogance, and insults to the administration, he continued to live here, as 
a private citizen for several years, ending his days in the northern part of the 
State. 

22. Ditmars Farm House, corner Rockaway Road and Lincoln 
Avenue, claimed to be about 180 years old. ' 

23. Greenwood House, Lincoln Avenue near Hawtree Creek 
Road. 

Turn down Hawtree Creek Road. 

24. Old House on Hawtree Creek Road about half a mile be- 
low 23. 

See on left across Lincoln Avenue 

25. Van Sicklen House and ancient barns, on Road to Bergen's 
Landing, just southwest of 23. 

Continue across Rockazvay Road passing stud farm of John C. 
Stevens, owner of the yacht " America," 

26. Thomas Bergen House (built 1805) with large gambrel 
window. 

Turn to left on Old South Road. 

27. Site of Bergen Homestead of 1700 (near first house on left). 

28. Jacob Bergen House one-third of a mile further. 

Return via Lincoln Avenue to trolley for Woodhaven. 
313 



NOTES 



314 



NOTES 



31S 



NOTES 



316 



NOTES 



317 



NOTES 



318 



PART FIVE 

BOROUGH OF RICHMOND 
EXCURSION X.— ROUTES 53-6oa. 



EXCURSION NO. X— HISTORIC RICHMOND. 

By George W. Nash,. M. D. 

Compiled from the " Memorial History of Staten Island," by Ira 

K. Morris, and from information given by many friends on 

the Island. Thanks are due to William T. Davis, 

James H. Innes and Edward Hagaman 

Hall for valuable suggestions 

and criticisms. 

Copyright, 1908, by the City History Club of New York. 
Revised 1909. 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




MAP OF 
STATEN ISLAND 

BOROUGH OF RICHMOND. 

Number* indicat* HouttS. 

RciilRoada. Roods. 



Plate LXIII. 



C. K. 



322 



HISTORIC RICHMOND. 



Bibliography. 

"Annals of Staten Island," by J. J. Clute (1877). 

" History of Richmond County, New York," edited by R. M. 
Bayles (1887). 

" Historical Sketches of Staten Island," by Ramond Tysen. 

"History of Staten Island," by I. P. Van Pelt. 

" Staten Island Magazine," Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 3, August and Octo- 
ber, 1888. 

" Proceedings of the Natural Science Association of Staten Island," 
Vols. I-IX, 1883- 1903 and (under the Society's new name), " Pro- 
ceedings of the Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences," Vol. 
I, 1906- 1907. 

" Staten Island Names," by William T. Davis, containing a valu- 
able map by Charles W. Leng and " Supplement to Staten Island 
Names," by William T. Davis, both published by the Natural Science 
Association, New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y. 

" Memorial History of Staten Island," by Ira K. Morris, 2 Vols. 
1898 and 1900. 



323 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF STATEN ISLAND. 

The island contains about 49,280 acres; the greatest length is a little over 
i3i miles and the greatest breadth is 200 feet over 7 J miles. 

The Indian name was '* Aquehonga Man-ack-nong," meaning the place of the 
high, sandy banks; in some old documents it is called " Eghqua-hons," which 
has the same meaning. 

Morris quotes Schoolcraft as giving the meaning " the place of the bad 
woods." 

Previous to the coming of the white man, the island was occupied by the 
Raritans, a branch of the Delawares, under tribute to the Mohawks. Traces 
of the shell heaps made by the Indians are found in. various parts of the 
Island. 

With the coming of the European, the history of Staten Island is wrapped 
up with that of the neighboring territory. 

\'^errazano discovered the island in 1524. On September 2, 1609, Henry 
Hudson anchored in the Lower Bay and first saw the island, which was 
named "Staaten Eylandt " as a memorial to the States General of the Nether- 
lands under whose direction he was sailing. 

The first settlement was at " Oude Dorp " (old town) early in the period of 
the Dutch colonization. Among the first settlers were the Rapaelje family, 
who were connected with the first white inhabitants of Long Island. 

The Indians sold the island repeatedly; first to Michael Pauw in 1630, the 
first patroon, who called his grant " Pavonia." The Indian claim was finally 
extinguished in 1670 by Gov. Lovelace. In 1639, David Peterson de Vries, 
having obtained a grant from Governor Van Twiller in 1636, introduced some 
settlers. In 1641, Cornelis Melyn was made a patroon and the third attempt 
to settle the island was made at Oude Dorp. The Indians destroyed this village 
in 1641 and again in 1655, after which it was never rebuilt. (But see 
Note). 

In i6=;2 the Waldenses founded a village at Stony Brook which lasted until 
the middle of the eighteenth century, when it crumbled away. The latter part 
of the seventeenth century saw the Huguenots settling at Marshland, now 
Greenridge. During Kieft's misrule, the island suffered with the adjoining 
territory the ravages of the Indians. 

The English settled on the island in Stuyvesant's time and finally, in 1664, 
it came with other Dutch possessions under the British rule of Governor Nicolls, 
his first act being the capture of a block house on Staten Island. The setting 
off of the island from New Jersey was due partly to the difficulty of collecting 
the taxes; the Duke of York, to whom his brother, the King, had previously 
given New York, on this account decided in 1668 that all islands in the harbor 
that could be circumnavigated in twenty-four hours should belong to New 
York, otherwise to New Jersev. Captain Billopp successfully accomplished the 
feat in the i)rescribed time ancl the island was adjudged to New York. A tract 
of land was awarded to him and he established the Manor of Bentley, at what 
is now Tottenville. New Jersey disputed this decision and the question was 
satisfactorily settled only in 1833. In 1673 the island was retaken by the. 
Dutch, but was finally restored to the English on February 9, 1674. In 1679, 
the Labadists visited the island, and it is from them that so much of the 
everyflay life of the colonists is known. The island was made into Richmond 
County in 1683; in 1688 it was divided into the towns of Northficld, Snuthfield, 
Wcstficld and Casticton; Middletown was established in i860. Cucklestowne, 
now Richmond, was made tlic county seat in 1729. 

3-^4 



Historical RICHMOND Sketcli 

As headquarters of the British during the Revolution, the island was under 
martial law; many of the inhabitants were lukewarm to the patriot cause. 

General Sir William Howe brought his forces here July 3, 1776; making his 
headquarters at New Dorp. His brother. Admiral Lord Howe, commanded the 
fleet here. The British erected forts at various places: at times the Americans 
attempted to oust the British, and on their part the British made excursions 
from the island to the neighboring country. The British troops vacated the 
island on November 25, 1783, when many of the American Loyalists moved 
to various parts of the British Empire. 

By act of Legislature, slavery was abolished on July 4, 1825, when the 
fact was much celebrated. (See No. 12.) The island was governed by about 
seventy different boards until 1898, when it became the Borough of .Rich- 
mond of Greater New York. It now feels the same impulses that exist in 
the other boroughs. 

Note: Mr. James H. Innes thinks that Oude Dorp was not built until 
1662-63 by Stuyvesant, on the order of the West India Company to fortify 
points on either side of the Narrows. In 1661 he informed the Company 
that all the houses in Staten Island had been destroyed during the Indian wars. 
Later he wrote that the village had been built about one-half hour's walk from 
the Narrows, there being no convenient place nearer the water. It was visited by 
the Labadists in 1679 (see their Journal in the L. I. Soc, Memoirs), when 
there were seven houses, three only inhabited, the people having removed on 
account of the poor soil to " Niewe Dorp." 

He doubts that the Rapaelje family ever settled in Staten Island, or that 
Waldenses founded Stony Brook, there being no documentary proof of these 
statements extant (see No's. 62, 66, Tj). 



325 



HISTORICAL GUIDT. 



\^ss 




to 



(1^ 



326 



RICHMOND 

ROUTE 53. 

From Manhattan take the Staten Island Municipal Ferry, at South 
Ferry, to St. George. 

(Figures refer to Plate LXIV). 

SECTION I— ST. GEORGE TO HOLLAND'S HOOK. 

Walk up Jay Street to South, then up to 

1. Richmond Borough Hall; here are the rooms of the Staten 
Island Association of Arts and Sciences, containing, among other 
relics, the last milestone known to exist on the island; it stood 
at the corner of Signs Road and Richmond Turnpike on the 
post route between New York and Philadelphia; all that is now 
to be made out is 

Miles 

to 

N. YorkE. 

2. Fort Hill, at the head of Fort Place, just above Sherman 
Avenue; here can be seen a masonry cavern used formerly as 
a reservoir, and also the outlines of a British fort. 

Walk back to Tompkins Avenue; go north. 

3. Casfleton Hotel; burned November, 1907, occupying the site 
of the old St, Marks Hotel, at the corner of Nicholas Street and St. 
Marks Place ; St. Marks Hotel was constructed out of the old 
" Marble House," built by Gilbert Thompson as a private house and 
at one time occupied by August Belmont; the large building opposite 
is the Curtis High School. 

Walk down Nicholas Avenue to and along the Terrace. 

4. Pavilion Hotel; between Church Street and Westervelt 
Avenue, now a tenement house; it was built in 1828, as a resi- 
dence for Thomas E. Davis, and later became a hotel for wealthy 
Southerners. 

5. Hessians Springs; north on Jersey Street and parallel to 
it, off the Terrace; now utilized by the Hessian Springs Ice 
Company. It was once the most noted resort near New York, 
and was so called from the Hessian camp located here during 
the Revolution; there were two redoubts here on the heights 
^t the entrance to the Kills. 

327 



Route 53. Sailors' HISTORICAL GUIDE Snug Harbor 

Nearby, on the shore, Gilbert Thompson, son-in-law of Governor Tompkins, 
built a schooner, in which he conveyed his family to- Mexico; later it was 
used to bring Santa Anna, after the Mexican War, to Staten Island, where he 
lived in the DuBois House; see 19. 

Not far away was the site of Belmont Hall, where Isaacs' department store 
now is, between Westervelt Avenue and Jersey Street. It was built in 1832 
as a private residence and was used for many years by Major Duff, a West 
Pointer, as a military academy. The major became colonel of a New York 
regiment in the Mexican War and died in Mexico. 

6. John Drake Sloat lived where the Muralo office . now stands, between York 
and Franklin Avenues: tne house was destroyed by fire and was one of the 
oldest residences in New Brighton. 

7. The Cement House or Ward House, at the corner of 
Franklin Avenue, is nearly a century old; it is so called from 
being the first house built of cement blocks. It was the prop- 
erty of George A. Ward, who is said to have closely resembled 
George Washington. 

Continue on the Terrace. 

8. The Neville House or Stone Jug, at the corner of Tysen 
Street, now a hotel. It was built about 1770 and later became 
the residence of Captain John Neville, U. S. N. 

9. Sailors' Snug Harbor, an institution for old and disabled 
seamen. It was planned by Captain Thos. Randall and founded 
by his son, Robert Richard Randall, who bequeathed his prop- 
erty, the Minto farm, just south of Union Square, Manhattan, 
for this purpose. Alexander Hamilton and Daniel D. Tompkins 
prepared the will, and Gov. DeWitt Clinton aided in securing 
the charter. Though founded in 1801, on account of litigation, 
the corner-stone of the institution was not laid until 1831 and the 
first buildings were opened in 1833. The annual income from 
the rents of the Manhattan property yields about $400,000. 
There are accommodations for about 1200 inmates, all of whom 
must have served five years under the American* flag. 

Continue on the Terrace to Davis Avenue. 

10. The Kreuzer-Pelton House at the Cove. It was built by 
Rolph in 1722 and later came into the hands of the Kreuzers. 
It was the headquarters during the Revolution of Gen. Cort- 
land Skinner, commandant of Skinner's "American Loyalists," 
and, for a time, Prince William, who later became King Wil- 
liam IV, was entertained here by General Skinner. Here Cruzer, 
Barnum's lightning calculator, was born. It was bought by 
Daniel Pelton in 1839, and his daughter, Mrs. Gen. Duffie, still 
lives here. 

328 



Richmond Terrace RICHMOND 53 Route 

On September 9, 1609, Henry Hudson sent out a small boat from his ship, 
the Half Moon, then in the Narrows, to explore the Kills; when opposite the 
Cove, at West New Brighton, they were attacked by the Indians from the 
shore, and an English sailor named Coleman, who was in command of the 
boat, was killed by an arrow; his remains were taken to Sandy Hook (some 
say Coney Island) and buried, the place being still called " Coleman's Point." 

Go up Bard Avenue to Henderson Avenue, at the northwest corner 

of which see , 

11. The house where George William Curtis lived. 

Return to Richmond Terrace. 

12. Swan Hotel, a shingle-sided building opposite the Post 
Office. It stood originally on the adjoining ground and was the 
political center of Staten Island; here, in 1825, the recently freed 
slaves of New Jersey, Staten Island and Long Island celebrated 
their emancipation. 

13. Fountain House site, between Van and Water Streets, now occupied by a 
store near the Church of the Ascension. The house, built in 1750, was the 
headquarters of the British officers attached to the fort, which stood where 
the church is located; it was burned, as a war measure, by order of General 
Sullivan. It was the scene of the first public ball on Staten Island; the 
phrase " fiddler's change " originated here, as it was customary to take up a 
collection for the musicians after each dance. It was also the local political 
headquarters. When the house was torn down in 1895 a painting by Milburn 
the artist, who stopped here in 1840, was discovered. 

Walk to the Square bounded by the Terrace, Dongan, Bodinc and 
Cedar Streets. 

14. Dongan House site, owned by the. English Governor, Thomas Dongan 
(1682-1688), who in 1687 " purchased a manor house and some 25,000 acres 
of ground " on Staten Island, which he formed into the " Lordship and Manor 
of Casseltowne." The house was his hunting lodge. Here he lived until 1691, 
when he fled to England during the Leisler troubles. The estate went to his 
nephews, one of whom, Walter, succeeded to the title; finally it went out of the 
family into other hands, among them Judge Ogden Edwards. At the time of 
its destruction by fire, Christmas, 1878, it was owned by J. H. Williamson. 

Indian remains have been found nearby in the sand bank, and at the foot 
of the embankment was a famous spring, a meeting place for Indian harvest 
festivals and treaty making. 

15. The DeGroot House, of Dutch architecture, at the corner 
of Columbia Street. DeGroot is the Dutch for LeGrand, the 
name of the original French family. 

Side trip along Columbia Street. 

16. The Scott-Edwards House, at the northwest corner of Co- 
lumbia and Prospects Streets, was the residence of Judge Ed- 
wards, the first Supreme Court Justice to reside on Staten Island 
under the Republic; he was the grandson of Jonathan Edwards 
and a cousin of Aaron Burr. 

17. The Tyler Housje, Clove Road, here a continuation of 
Columbia Street and Broadway; it was owned by Mrs. Juliana 
Gardiner, mother of President Tyler's wife, later by Mrs. Tyler. 
It was bought in 1878 by Hon. W. M. Evarts and later occupied 
by the Russian Consul-General. The park has been cut up by 
speculators. 

329 



Route 53 HISTORICAL GUIDE Port Richmond 

Continue on the Clove Road. 

i8. Oldest Corsen House on the island, a few rods north of 
Richmond Turnpike. It was built about 1690. 

Britton Mill, near Clove Lake, was the scene of local romances. 
Return on Clove Road to Cherry Lane, then south on Manor Road. 

19. The Dubois House, on the northwest corner; General 
Santa Anna lived here (see 5). 

Go west on Cherry Lane to 

20. The Decker House, on Barrett Street, just off Cherry 
Lane; the Decker family descended from Johannes de Decker, 
who arrived in 1655. 

Walk north on Decker Avenue and continuing streets to the Terrace 
at Port Richmond. 

21. Danner's Hotel, the old Port Richmond Hotel, also called 
the St. James Hotel, near the corner of Richmond Avenue. It 
stands on the site of the Revolutionary Fort Decker and was 
built soon after the war, as a private residence; it became a 
hotel in 1820 and was then the largest hotel in the county. Aaron 
Burr was a guest of the Winant family and died here in Sep- 
tember, 1836. 1854-1856 it was the headquarters of the Know- 
Nothing or American Party. Its name has been changed many 
times, and the building itself is materially altered from the 
original form. 

There was another fort west of this locality. 

22. Van Pelt Academy, behind the Post Office at Port Rich- 
mond on the Terrace just west of Richmond Avenue, was once 
a famous school under the management of Dr. P. I. Van Pelt, 
minister of the Reformed Church; it is now a furniture shop. 

22' Dutch Reformed Church, a short distance up Richmond 
Avenue from the Terrace, opposite Church Street; it is on the 
site of the church burned during the Revolution; the Sunday 
School is said to be the oldest in the United States. See tablet 
over the front door. 
Go up Richmond Avenue, nearly opposite Harrison Street; see 
24. The Jacques House, now Progress Hall; also called Har- 
rison House. It was built by Isaac Jacques, a New York mer- 
chant and a descendant of the French Count Jacques, who came 
to this country toward the end of the 17th century. The willows 
came from St. Helena, the boxwood from Mt. Vernon and the 
fence from the residence of Mr. Jacques in Whitehall Street in 
Manhattan. 

330 



Holland's Hoot RICHMOND 53 Route 

Walk along the Terrace to the Linseed Oil Mills. 

25. The Housman House site, southwest corner John Street. The original 
Housman came to America in 1675 or 1676. 

26. The Lake-Croak House, between Bay and Simonson Streets. 
The land on which it stands was part of a lot granted by Sir 
Edmund Andros to John Lee, December i6, 1680. 

27. The Post House, on the Terrace, in the grounds of the 
MiUiken Iron Works, was erected in 1691. 

28. The DeHart House, next the car barn, a short distance 
east of Holland Avenue. This house is over 150 years old and 
was once a school. 

There is an Indian graveyard on Holland's Hook, and on the heights at 
the approach to the ferry were two British forts. 

Go south on Western Avenue, under the R. R. bridge, to Old Place. 

Old Place was at one time called Tunissen's Neck. Morris says the name 
originated in the following manner: Religious services were held in such a 
dilapidated building that a new place of worship was selected. This was so 
inconvenient that the early building was repaired and worship resumed at the 
" Old Place." One section of Old Place was called " Skunkville." 

See two or three old houses on the right, on the old Daniel Jones place. 

29. Old Place Mill, a little east, on Washington Avenue; some of the 
foundations are still to be seen on the edge of the creek on the right side of the 
road. 

Go east on Washington Avenue past the school-house, and on the 
opposite side of the avenue, near South Avenue, see the 

30. Van Pelt-Decker House; the house stands a little back 
from Washington Avenue. Tradition says that the American 
forces, on one of their raids from New Jersey, found Van Pelt 
in bed; he was summarily pulled out of bed and forced to accom- 
pany the troops into New Jersey, where he fought with the 
patriot army: the next day his wife succeeded in getting clothes 
to him. Later his wife kept a tavern for soldiers of both armies. 

Some distance farther east, opposite Harbor Street, stood until 1904 the 
Van Pelt Cottage, over 200 years old. 



331 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 





DIAGRATVI 

SECTION Z E:.-: 

RICHMO^J). 



?-_*.rz LXV. Ro 



OUTE 54. 



C. K. 



332 



RICHMOND 

ROUTE 54. 

SECTIOX II.— ST. GEORGE TO NEW SPRIXGVILLE. 

(Figures refer to Plate LXV). 

Take the trolley at St. George for Elizabeth Ferry and change to 
Bull's Head car at Port Richmond, passing 

31. Butler's Hotel Site, near the head of Washington Aventie; this -bts-s a 
favorite resort of the sporting fraternity; during the Revolution it was cx:- 
cupjed by British officers as headquarters; burned in 1892. 

Get off the car at ]^edder Az-enue, walk east to ]Villow Brook Road 
and then South to Watchogue Road. 

S2. Pero-Christopher House, at northwest corner; across the 
road see 

33. Mersereau House, where Col. Joshua Mersereau lived and 
from which he had a hairbreadth escape during the Revolution; 
the British commander had put a price on his head. 

Southeast from Watchogue Read and Jnilozi' Brook Azenue, 

34. Site of the Vreeland House, recently destroyed. 

Walk east on Watchogue Road to Prohibition Park. 

2>S- The Corsen-Ives House, at the corner of St. John Street. 

Ives was at one time the bicj'cle champion of the United States. 

36. Bodine's Inn site, at Castleton Corners; it was built by David Jacqnes 
before the Revolution; was made a hotel later and became the home of the 
actor Keene during his last days. 

JValk south on the Willozi' Brook Road to Willozv Brook; among the 

Zi-'-.IIczcs back of the ice-house, see 

37. The Christopher Homestead, where the Committee of 
Safety met during the Revolution; it was reached bj- secret paths 
through the swamps; many Americans were captured while try- 
ing to reach it. 

Walk back to Richmond Turnpike, then zi-est to Richmond or Old 

Stone Road. 

38. Bull's Head Tazem site at the comer; it was built in 1 741, and was a 
Tory headquarters and the scene of many outrages; burned 1890. 

Continue south to Xcw Springz'tlle. 

Long Xeck. now known as New Spring^-ille, was the fourth 

oldest settlement on Staten Island. 

39. School House site, where the present building stands: the ongizal scb:o! 
was built in the 17th century; the old stone was used in the prtsect bu:'.d:r.t. 

333 



Route 54 HISTORICAL GUIDE New Springville 

Walk south to Rockland Avenue, then east to 

40. Corsen House site; the Corsen family is one of the oldest on the island; 
the earliest mention of the name is in 1680. There are some fine family relics 
in the house, which stands on the old site. 

Get information here as to route to the wolf pit. 

41. Wolf Pit, reached by a pleasant trip through the woods 
to the north, or may be visited from 2>7- The pit was built many 
years ago by Captain Jones, who owned the surrounding woods. 
It was covered with brush and leaves and was baited with a 
piece of meat hung from a sapling just above it; the wolf would 
leap to this and fall through the brush into the hole. 

Go back to the village and, at the corner of Union Street, see 

42. The Old Crocheron House; a little farther west is 

43. The later Crocheron House, which contains some fine old 
furniture. John Crocheron, the founder of the family here, was 
a prominent Huguenot; to escape execution in France he hid in 
a hogshead on board a vessel by which his neighbors were 
coming to America. His will was dated December 13, 1695. 

Walk along Union Street to Richmond Turnpike, then toward Travis- 

ville. 

44. The Ridgeway House; a long, low building, south of the 
road in the field. At Linoleumville, then called New Blazing 
Star, was a Revolutionary fort. 

Return to New Springville, walk south on Richmond Road, nozv 

Broadway. 

45. Simonson House site; built about 1690 by William, the son of Simon La 
Blant, who escaped from France during the Huguenot persecution, and on 
his arrival here was known as Simonson; he was the ancestor of the Simonson 
family in this country. The old house was of stone of the Dutch style of 
architecture, and, when it was destroyed, a brick building took its place. 

Continue on Broadway. 

46. The Blake-Miller House, built about 1668; it is situated 
on the left, a short distance from Union Street. 

A short walk brings one to Karles Neck. 

47. The Barne-Tysen House, stands off the road to the west; 
the family came from Holland in 1660 and received a grant of 
land from Sir Edmund Andros in 1667. 

Walk back to Bull's Head and take the trolley home or follow the 

Richmond Hill Road to Richmond, where the car may 

be taken for St. George. 

334 



RICHMOND 

ROUTE 55. 

SECTION III— ST. GEORGE TO ARROCHAR. 
(Figures refer to Plate LXVI.) 

Take the trolley or walk along the streets near the shore through 
Tompkinsville and Stapleton. 

There was formerly a large spring near the south end of the R. R. tunnel, 
where ships obtained water; the vicinity was called from this, the " Watering 
Place." 

48. Old Health Officer's Residence, the only remains of the 
former Quarantine property, now owned by the American Cotton 
Docks Co., next to the United States Light-House Reservation. 
The property made an extensive plant; it was destroyed in 1858 
by the summary action of some of the inhabitants. For some 
time, the people of Staten Island had petitioned for a change 
of Quarantine to a less exposed place. Incensed by inaction, 
they took their own measures and burned the plant. The land- 
ing was the site of an old fort. 

Walk along Central Avenue to Arietta Street. 

49. Quarantine Ferry Landing, at the foot of Arietta Street, passing the 
R. R. Station, where was the site of Nautilus Hall (built 1808): this hall was 
a popular political resort, because "out of the way"; it was the scene of re- 
ceptions to Lafayette, Garibaldi, Van Buren, Tompkins, Scott, Seward and 
others. 

At the corner of GriiUn and Arietta Streets, see 

so. The Dutch Reformed Church site. The church was built 18 18, and after 
many years used as a shop; it was demolished in 1907, to make way for a 
block of shops; Governor Tompkins aided in its erection. 

Just above, on the south side of Sarah Ann Street, near the Rich- 
mond Turnpike, see 

51. General Van Buren's Home. 

Walk along Griifin and Bay Streets. 

52. The Planters' Hotel, at the northwest corner of Grant 
Street, was a popular resort for wealthy Southern planters. 

Go up Clinton and Church Streets; see 

53. The Pavilion Hill, known as Mt. Tompkins in the early 
days, where are the remains of two Revolutionary forts; one 
may get a fine view from this hill. The forts were rebuilt during 
the War of 1812. 

335 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



DIAGRAM 




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RICHMOND. 


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Plate LXVI. Route 55. 
336 



C. A', 



Garibaldi House RICHMOND 55 Route 

Continue on Bay Street nearly to Congress. 

54. Commodore Vanderbilt's later house. 

Farther along, at the N. W. corner of Union Street, see 

55. Commodore Vanderbilt's earlier home. Mrs. Vanderbilt, 
wife of the Commodore, died here. 

Continue on Bay Street. 

56. United States Marine Hospital. Originally a State hos- 
pital, erected 1834-1835, it was maintained by a State tax, which 
was later declared unconstitutional, on seamen entering the 
Port of New York. Later the Marine Society of New York 
purchased the property and rented it to the United States Gov- 
ernment, in 1883, as a Marine Hospital. Finally, in 1903, it was 
purchased by the United States Government. It contains 150 
beds. 

In the rear is a building called the Seaman's Retreat, over 100 
years old. This was the original hospital building established by the 
Marine Society. A short distance to the west, corner of Bay Street 
and Simonson Avenue, is the site of the iirst National headquarters 
of the Republican party, where General Fremont received the news of 
his defeat in 1856. 

Walk along Bay Street to Townsend Avenue. 

57. Townsend Castle site, at the west end of the avenue; three brothers 
came about 1661 and founded the family; the house was burned in 1885 to- 
gether with a number of fine historical paintings. 

Follow New York Avenue to Chestnut Street. 

58. The Garibaldi House, near Bachman's brewery, at the 
corner of Tompkins Avenue; it is marked by a tablet placed on 
it by the lovers of the Italian General, who lived here for some 
time. He lived with Antonio Meucci, the inventor of a tele- 
phone system, who died here in 1889. The house was presented 
to the Italian Government by Frederick Bachman. It is now 
protected by a cement superstructure. 

Walk east on Chestnut Avenue to Bay Street, then south. 

59. The Austin House at foot of Clifton Avenue, said to have 
been erected in 1710 by a Dutch merchant; it is well preserved 
in the original style and contains many relics of the Revolution. 

60. Quarantine at the foot of Cliff Street; a British fort was 
located here. 

ZZ7 



Route 55 HISTORICAL GUIDE Ft. Wadsworth 

Continue on up Bay Street and New York Avenue to 

6i. Forts Wadsworth and Tompkins, established by New York 
State during the War of 1812. In 1847 the United States Gov- 
ernment bought the reservation, demolished the old forts and 
built the present works, which have been constantly improved 
and brought up to date. It is said the first Dutch immigrants 
stopped here and a block house was erected here by DeVries; 
this was several times destroyed by the Indians. 

The fort was rebuilt by the English in 1776. The last shot 
of the Revolution was fired at this fort by a British gunboat 
on Evacuation Day, 1783, because of the open derision expressed 
by the onlooking Staten Islanders. It is hoped to mark this 
fort by a tablet. Inside the reservation is the Old Fountain 
House. 

62, Arrochar is reached from the fort by the railroad or one can walk there 
by way of Richmond Avenue. Arrochar Park was once known as Oude Dorp 
(Old Town) and is the site of the first Dutch settlement on Staten Island, 
1641. The village consisted of several log huts and was destroyed three times 
by the Indians. (But see Note, p. 325.) 

62. The Vreeland Homestead at South Beach was recently destroyed. 

Take the trolley hack to St. George. 



338 



RICHMOND 
ROUTE 56. 

SECTION IV.— ST. GEORGE TO NEW DORP AND 
RICHMOND. 

(Figures refer to Plate LXVII). 
Take the trolley for New Dorp, passing 

64. Emerson Hill and site of the house called " The Snug- 
gery." It is in Concord, earlier called Dutch Farms, on the 
west side of the road, just beyond the Clove Road, where the 
trolley from the North Shore connects with this line. The 
present house was built by William Emerson, Judge of Rich- 
mond County, 1841-1843, not far from his original house, "The 
Snuggery." Ralph Waldo Emerson spent some time here; Henry 
D. Thoreau was a teacher in the family, 

65. The Clinch Homestead, near Spring Street, Concord, op- 
posite the hotel, was built about 1700, and was the early home 
of Mrs. A. T. Stewart. 

Further on, at Garretson, lately called Dongan Hills, on the east side 
of the road, see 

66. The Perrine Homestead, built about 1668. The village 
was named for John C. Garretson, whose two-century-old man- 
sion here has lately disappeared. It was occupied at one time 
during the Revolution by Capt. Coghlan of the British Army. 
Opposite is Todt or Toad Hill, one of the high points on Staten 
Island. 

Todt Hill was also called Iron Hill, this metal having been extracted, at 
times, from the hill. The ravine penetrating the hill was called Valley of the 
Iron Hill and Mersereau's Valley. It was the scene of the rescue of a young 
woman from a British officer, by her lover Mersereau. 

New Dorp, including Elm Tree Light, now embraces also Stony Brook; here 
General Moncton rested with his army several weeks after the French and 
Indian war, during which time Sir Jeffrey Amherst was invested with the 
Order of the Bath, October 25, 1761. 

It contained an important military post during the Civil War. 

The trolley car passes on the right 

67. The Moravian Cemetery, within which is the Old Mo- 
ravian Church and Parsonage (now used as a Sunday School- 
room and the cemetery office); the original plot for this ceme- 
tery was bought on June 9, 1763, for $124.08*, being part of 
the estate of Governor Dongan (see No. 14); the Vanderbilt 
family have added largely to the church property; the corner- 
stone of the old church was laid July 7, 1763; in the cemetery 
are many graves antedating the church. See the Vanderbilt 
mausoleum. 

339 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



DI, 

SECTI0N4- 




Plate LXVII. Routes 56, 57, 58. C. K. 



340 



Fountain House RICHMOND 56 Route 

68. The Aaron Cortelyou Homestead, opposite the cemetery 
gate; also called the Lake or Gifford House. Because of a burg- 
lary in this house, a negro suffered the first legal execution in 
the county. 

T7. Stony Brook; the original Waldensian settlement in 1658 (Note, p. 
325), the second oldest settlement on Staten Island, and the County Seat from 
1683 to 1827. Here were Staten Island's first Court House and Jail, 1683; 
first Church, 1670; first Whipping Post (witches were punished here); first 
market or trading place; first marriage. 

The Huguenots settled here in 1658. 

The old Britton House was here; the site is just about opposite Tysen Avenue, 
on the west side of the road; it was built between 1650 and 1660 and de- 
molished in 1896, being one of the oldest structures on Staten Island. It was 
used as a court house; the family were driven out during the Revolution, and 
the colonel of one of the British mounted regiments had his headquarters 
here; it was also used as a small-pox hospital. In early days it was the 
scene of an Indian massacre, where a whole family was killed. 

Continue to Nezv Dorp, see 

7^. The Black Horse Tavern, at the corner of Amboy Road 
and Richmond Road, a resort of British officers during the Revo- 
lution. 

Opposite, at the head of New Dorp Lane, is the site of the Patten House, 
built in 1837 to accommodate the crowds who came to see the New Dorp 
races along the Lane. It was a favorite resort of the Vanderbilts; in its later 
days it was used as a Roman Catholic institution and finally as a tenement. 

79. The Rose and Crown House stood a little to the north of New Dorp 
Lane on the west side of Richmond Road; it was built by early Huguenot 
settlers, and was the birthplace of Bishop Bedell; while the headquarters of Sir 
Wm. Howe, here he and his brother, Lord Howe, first heard the reading of the 
Declaration of Independence; later it was occupied by British officers, among 
them General Knyphausen, Sir Henry Clinton, Lord Cornwallis and Sir Guy 
Carleton. It was torn down in 1854. 

80. The Fountain House, on the opposite side of Richmond 
Road and just above the Black Horse Tavern, recently remodeled; 
it is one of the oldest houses remaining on Staten Island. Here 
Margaret Moncrieffe met Captain Coghlan; here, also, Lieut. 
Sidney A. Simons, U. S. N., was born. He was drowned off 
Cape Hatteras. 

Near by is Camp Hill, a British gambling resort and duelling 
ground. During the occupation of the island by the British, 
many officers were court-martialled for gambling and duelling. 



341 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 

ROUTE 57. 

SIDE TRIP A— TO ELM TREE LIGHT. 

(Figures refer to Plate LXVII). 

Leave trolley at New Dorp Lane, then walk east; cross the R. R. 

track, passing on the left 

69. The Jacobsen House, built by Christian Jacobsen; during 
the Revolution, British soldiers entered the house and fatally- 
shot him; his will is dated January 10, 1782. 

N^ early opposite, see 

70. The W. H. Vanderbilt House, now owned by George W. 
Vanderbilt. This house was given to W. H. Vanderbilt by his 
father, who sent him here to recover his health. His income 
from the farm, at one time, was over $12,000 a year. 

Near the foot of the lane, see 

71. The Cubberly House; the original name of the family is 
Coverle; the first of the name came in 1769; see the quaint 
kitchen. 

At the extreme end of the lane, see 
yz. Elm Tree Beacon, the landing place of the Huguenots, 
1658. There was a chain of British breastworks near the shore; the 
old Track House, until lately, stood on the Vanderbilt farm at the 
foot of the lane. 

On Coles Avenue, see 
7S. The Lake Tysen House, situated in the field; the Lake 
family settled on the island in 1670, coming from England. The 
house is kept in its original condition by the descendants of the 
builders. 

To the south, see 

74. The Guyon-Clarke House, at the foot of Guyon Avenue. 
It is an early Huguenot house, where was organized a British 
Masonic Lodge; see -the old clock in the hall, and the land 
patent signed by Sir Edmund Andros, 

The Club House, near by, was frequented by the most prom- 
inent people of the island. 

Not far azuay to the south on the Boulevard, see 

75. The Cole House; the family came to America in 1639, 
by way of Holland, where the name was changed to "Kool"; 
in America this became Cool, then Cole. 

Nearly opposite, oh the edge of the marsh, see 

76. The Lockman House Ruins; the lintel piece, now in the possession of Mr. 
Hetherington, of Gififords, bears the inscription, May 22, 1782. 



RICHMOND 
ROUTE 58. 

RICHMOND. 

(Figures refer to Plates LXVII and LXVIII). 

Take trolley to Richmond, passing at the bend of the road, just be- 
yond New Dorp village, the duelling ground of the British oMcers. 

81. The Grote House, later occupied by Dr. Rotton, just be- 
yond the corner of Egbertville and Rockland Avenues; it is over 
100 years old and was originally the home of Colonel Richard 
Connor, where Aaron Burr made his last call. Above the ravine 
is the old Egbertville Academy. 

Richmond, formerly Cuckoldstowne or Cucklestowne, became 
the County Seat in 1729. 

At the end of the trolley line turn to the north. 

82. St. Andrews Church, one of the four churches established 
(1708) by Queen Anne; the church has still part of the silver 
service given by her to the church; it was occupied by the British 
as a hospital and was the center of two Revolutionary fights. 
The original building was built in 1713. See memorial tablet to 
commemorate Anne's gift in 1708 (unveiled October 21, 1908). 



■@ 



M/^i. /^o-^■ 



*5ectlon 4". 




£)(,CUftS/ON X. 



Plate LXVIII. Route 58. 
343 



C. K. 



Route 58 HISTORICAL GUIDE Richmond 

On the hill zvherc the school house stands were 

83. The Whipping Post, removed 1825, and the Gallows, the scene of the 
first execution in the county. 

84. Later Latourette House, made of brick; see 

85. The older Latourette House ruins — a council of war took place here lead- 
ing to the battle of Springfield, N. J. It was the headquarters of Lt.-Col. 
Simcoe, commanding the " Queen's Rangers." Tlie Holmes family, ancestors 
of Nancy Hanks and Abraham Lincoln, once lived in this house. The earliest 
mention of the Latourette family is in 1726. 

86. Old Mill. 

Return to the Village on the Mill Road. 

87. The Barton House and old ' Cuckoldstowne Inn site, corner of Rich- 
mond Road and Court Street, behind the County Clerk's office; this was the 
headquarters of General Cleveland, chief engineer of the British Army; here it 
was that Andre wrote his will. 

87A. County Clerk's Office. 

88. Second County Court House site; building destroyed by the British in 
the Revolution (the first was at Stony Brook) ; the site was occupied for many 
years by the Richmond County Hall and since 1890 by St. Andrews Parish 
House. 

88A. Third County Court House, occupied by the Board of 
Supervisors, October, 1794, for the first time. In 1837 it was a 
dwelling and now a hotel. 

88B. Fourth County Court House, on Tysen Street, now in 
use. It was erected in 1837. See old graveyard near by. 

88C. Second County Jail, 1727, where now the street leads to 
Richmond Road. The first jail in Stony Brook. 

Nearly opposite was 

89. Old Dutch Reformed Church, original site; built 1808. 

89A. Site Old Dutch Reformed Church (second location, foundation may still 
be seen). 

There were three Revolutionary forts in Richmond, all on the hill above 
St. Andrews Church: one about 300 yards from tlie church, one still standing 
about a third of a mile west, and another on the hill overlooking the meadows, 
where the Bedell graveyard is located. 

Richmond was the site of tlie camp of the Seventeenth British Dragoons, 
the only regular British cavalry regiment in the Revolution; they acted as 
General Clinton's bodyguard. 



344 



RICHMOND 

ROUTE 59. 

SECTION V— ST. GEORGE TO GREENRIDGE AND 
GREAT KILLS. 

(Figures refer to Plate LXIX). 

Take the trolley at St. George to Richmond; then the Fresh Kills 

Road to Greenridge, called in the early days Marshland and 

Fresh Kills, passing on the right, just across the bridge, 

90. Benham Mansion ruins; the house was built by Commander T. G. Ben- 
ham when he was a Lieutenant in the Mexican War; it was burned down 1897. 
It was also the home of Admiral A. E. K. Benham. 

Pass on the right the Cortelyou House, of late Dutch architecture, 
to the road leading to the right of the mill, now a cement block 
factory; see the picturesque ruins of the millwheel behind the build- 
ing. 

Pass on the left 

91. Bedell House site, built in 1670, and a little farther on the site of the 
"House by the Mill," built in 1685; the latter house was a military storehouse 
during the Revolution; near it was a British fort and a Dragoon camp. Two 
battles were fought here. The Bedells came to America 1673, settling on Long 
Island, and on Staten Island a century later, 1767; see mention of the family 
in the county records, where Silas Bedell rendered a bill for doctoring. 

92. The Seaman House site, at the S. E. corner of Fresh Kills Road and 
Eltingville Road; this was the home of Benjamin Seaman, the_ last of the 
Colonial judges in Richmond County; he went to New Brunswick after the 
Revolution. The house was burned in 1890. 

93. The Huguenot Church site, near where the present barn stands on the 
Seaman estate; it was built between i6£o and 1695; the spot is to be marked 
with a stone; in the old churchyard were buried the last of Staten Island 
Indians in 1826. 

Return on Fresh Kills Road to Giffords Lane, then south. 

94. Small Stone Building on the west side of the lane, a few 
feet from Fresh Kills Road; it is said that this is one of the 
houses where courts were held years ago. 

95. Holy Spring House, on the east side of the lane, at 
the corner of Dewey Avenue, in the hollow by a big tree. The 
earliest Roman Catholic services on this part of the island were 
held here. The house gets its name from a miraculous spring 
in the basement. 

Continue to Giffords, called Great Kills. 

96. Old School House site, near the Post Office and store of J. W. Hethering- 
ton, where may be seen relics of the Poillon family and other relics. Go 
down Hillside Avenue to the Boulevard, where are situated the three following 
Poillon houses built about 1694: 

97. The Seguine House, a few feet east of Hillside Avenue. 

98. The Erastus Wiman House, a short distance west of 
Hillside Avenue. Wiman did a great deal to awaken Staten 
Island. 

345 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 




Plate LXIX. Route 59. 
346 



C K. 



Rossville RICHMOND ■" 59a Route 

99. The Woods of Arden House, quite a distance farther 
along, near Townsend Avenue. The name was given by Wiman. 
The Journeay House ruins are passed on the way. 

There was an Indian burying-ground in Great Kills. 

Seguine's Point was the scene of an uprising of the people 
in 1859, on account of the establishment of quarantining hos- 
pitals here. The buildings were burned, as were those at Tomp- 
kinsville, and the county was forced to pay the State $110,000, 
which sum included the loss of the buildings at Tompkinsville, 
destroyed in 1858. 

A floating hospital for yellow fever cases was located here in 
1859. In i860 Swinburne Island was made by filling in, and in 
1873 Hoffman Island was made in a similar manner, and so Se- 
guine's Point was freed from the terror of contagious diseases. 
Return by Townsend Avenue to R. R. Stations at either Eltingville 

or Annadale. 

ROUTE 59a. 

SIDE TRIP TO ROSSVILLE AND WOODROW. 

Follow Fresh Kills Road to Rossville; previous to the Revolution 

this was called " Smoking Point " and during the 

Revolution, " Blazing Star." 

100. Old Mill, where Richmond Creek empties into Fresh 
Kills. 

loi. Oakley House site, near the foot of Rossville Avenue, sometimes called 
Shea's Lane; it was the birthplace of James A. Bradley, the founder of Asbury 
Park; Bishop Asbury was entertained here soon after his arrival from England, 
in 1 77 1. It was a tavern before the Revolution. 

It is claimed that the old stone house that stood until 1850 on the farm 
of Samuel W. Benedict, near Rossville, was built by David Petersen de Vries, 
who came here from Holland in 1636 and established a bouwerie on Staten 
Island. There was a military redoubt at Rossville on the site of the Decker 
House. 

Walk down Rossville Avenue to Woodrow Road, then turn east. 

102. The Winant House, used by Tory marauders; a quantity 
of silver was found in the cellar several years ago. 

Opposite is the Methodist Church, on the site of the first M. 
E. Church on Staten Island, about 1787. 

Walk across Huguenot Lane and follow Journeay Avenue. 

103. Peter Van Pelt House site, known as the Nolan House, destroyed in 
1904; it is located just back of the present Nolan House. Bishop Asbury 
preached here shortly after his arrival in America. 

Return to Huguenot Lane, then south to Huguenot R. R. Station. 

347 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 









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Plate LXX. Route 6o. 



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RICHMOND 
ROUTE 60. 

SECTION VI.— ST. GEORGE TO TOTTENVILLE. 

(Figures refer to Plate LXX). 

Take the train to Tottenville, passing through Richmond Valley. 

104. The Old Tabernacle Ruins, built 1822 as a place for Methodist worship, 
at Richmond Valley, near Railroad Station. 

Tottenville was formerly known as the Manor of Bentley. 

105. Union House site, between the two shipyards on Railroad Avenue, at 
the foot of Tyrrell Street. It was built in 1784 and was originally the John- 
son farmhouse; it was in the parlor of this house, later used as a barroom, 
that Commodore Vanderbilt married his cousin, Sophia Johnson. 

Walk along Broadivay to Church Street, then over the mill dam. 

106. The Disosway-Cole site, over 100 years old at the time of its de- 
struction; some of the foundation stones can yet be seen at the end of the dam 
to the left. 

Return to the village, then follow Broadivay, Main Street and Amboy 

Road to the Lane and Bentley Avenue. 

107. The Billopp House, built about 1668 by Christopher Bil- 
lopp, who, in 1688, aided New York's claim to Staten Island by 
circumnavigating the island in his own vessel in less than 24 
hours; his reward was the grant of 1163 acres on the south shore, 
which he named for his vessel " Bentley Manor." His grandson, 
Christopher, was a loyalist and was carried off for ransom by 
some American Rangers and kept until exchanged for an Ameri- 
can prisoner. He was again taken but was freed by Washington 
at Howe's request. After the war he went to live in Nova 
Scotia. 

In this house took place an interview between Howe and an 
American committee, composed of Adams, Franklin and Rut- 
ledge, after the battle of Long Island, but no satisfactory agree- 
ment was reached. There have been several attempts to get 
the State to buy and preserve the house. The old family bury- 
ing-ground has disappeared, but two old gravestones lean against 
the veranda. Sir Henry Clinton, Generals Robertson and Kny- 
phausen and Major Andre visited here. Near the house is an old 
Indian burying-gr^und. At the present writing, a small fee 
is expected on being shown over the house. 

Continue to the extreme point of the island. 

108. Fort ruins; the fort was started by the War Department during the 
Spanish-American War; blocks of concrete can be seen. 

109. Garretson House site; the boat-house keeper on the beach will show the 
way across the meadow to Belmont Street; then walk to Manhattan Street to 
Arlington; a bungalow is now on the site. The family is Dutch and came here 
in 1660, from Holland, bringing with them a certificate of good character and 
good deportment from the burgomaster of their native city. There was a 
Revolutionary fort at Kreisherville. 

349 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



ROUTE 6oa. 

SIDE TRIP TO PRINCESS BAY. 

Get off the R. R. train at Princess Bay Station and walk south on 
Princess Bay Road. 

no. Purdy's Hotel, on the shore; it is nearly 200 years old, 
but well preserved. 

A short walk along the shore brings one to 

111. The Androvette House. The family took up land in 1699. 

112, 113. The sites of British forts. 

Return by train to St. George. 



350 



NOTES 



351 



NOTES 



352 



NOTES 



353 



NOTES 



354 



PART SIX 



SPECIAL ROUTES 

I. ROUTES FOR CHILDREN. 
IL WATER ROUTES. 
III. AUTOMOBILE ROUTES. 



SPECIAL ROUTES 

I. ROUTES FOR CHILDREN. 
For Museums, etc., see Appendix D. 

MANHATTAN. 

A. Bowling Green, Fraunces Tavern, Willett tablet, Pearl Street, 

Wall Street, Sub Treasury, Trinity Churchyard. R. I, 2, 3. 

B. Battery Park, Aquarium, Ericsson statue. R. 4. 

C. Governor's Island. R. 4. 

D. City Hall, City Hall Park, Post Office, St. Paul's Chapel and 

Churchyard. R. 5, 6. 

E. Washington Square, Exempt Firemen's Rooms in Jefferson Mar- 

ket. R. 10. 

F. St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery, pear tree tablet, Cooper Union Museum. 

R. II. 

G. Chatham Square, Jewish Cemetery, Mulberry Bend and Paradise 

Parks. R. 12. 

H. American Museum of Natural History (Indian remains found 
in Manhattan). 

I. Metropolitan Museum of Art (historical prints and objects). 

J. The New York Historical Society. 

K. McGown's Pass, remains of Fort Clinton, Block House No. i. 
R. 21. 

L. Block House No. 3, Grant's Tomb. R. 19. 

M. Washington's Headquarters. R. 23. 

N. High Bridge, Holyrood Church, Fort Washington, Fort Wash- 
ington Point. R. 23, 24, 25. 

O. Inwood and Cold Spring: particularly suitable for an all-day 
outing, pure water at the spring. Take Broadway Subway to 
Two Hundred and Seventh Street Station, walk west to the 
public school, north to the old Dyckman House, and west along 
the trail through the woods. R. 28b. 



357 



Routes for HISTORICAL GUIDE Children 



THE BRONX. 

A. Van Cortlandt Park and Mansion. R. 29. 

B. New York University, Hall of Fame, Historical Museum. R. 30. 

C. Tomb of Drake and walk to Hunt's Point. (Half day or all day 

outing.) R. 31. 

D. Botanical Garden, Horticultural Hall, in Bronx Park. R. 32. 

E. Indian Well, Hemlock Grove, Lorillard Mansion Museum in 

Bronx Park. R. 32. 

F. Zoological Gardens, Rocking Stone, Bronx River in Bronx 

Park. R. z^- 

For Routes D, E, take Lenox Avenue Subway to One Hun- 
dred and Forty-ninth Street, transfer to the Suburban Ele- 
vated R. R. to Bronx Park. 

For Route F, take West Farms Subway to One Hundred and 
Eighty-second Street. 

G. Glover's Rock, Macedonia Hotel, City Island. R. 34. 



BROOKLYN, 

A. Bushwick Dutch Reformed Church and Churchyard ; Cooper 

Park. R. 35c. 

B. Williamsburg Plaza and Bridge. R. 35a. 

C. Borough Hall, Beecher Statue, Long Island Historical Society. 

R. 36. 

D. Martyrs' Tomb, Fort Green Park; Navy Yard. R. 2>7- 

E. Prospect Park (best seen from the electric omnibus, 25 cents). 

R. 38. 

F. Children's Museum (Brooklyn Institute), Bedford Park. Par- 

ticularly valuable. R. 38. 

G. Fort Hamilton. ' R. 42. 



358 



Routes for SPECIAL ROUTES Children 



QUEENS. 

A. Cross Queensboro Bridge, car to Steinway, walk along the Old 

Bowery Road to North Beach. Return by trolley or College 
Point Ferry to Ninety-ninth Street, Manhattan. R. 44. 

B. Astoria Ferry from East Ninety-second Street, old houses in 

Astoria, walk along the Shore Road to Steinway, return by 
trolley to Astoria or by Queensboro Bridge. R. 45. 

C. Elmhurst, the old village of Newtown. R. 49. 

D. Quaker Meeting House, Bowne House (admission 25 cents) and 

other old houses of Flushing. R. 51. 

E. King Mansion, Jamaica. R. 52. 



RICHMOND. 

A. Municipal Ferry to St. George to see the Upper Bay, islands, 

light houses, old forts and Statue of Liberty. 

B. Borough Hall and Rooms of the Staten Island Association of 

Arts and Sciences. R. 53. 

C. Sailors' Snug Harbor and old houses near by. R. 53. 

D. Forts Wadsworth and Tompkins. R. 55. 

E. Billopp House, Tottenville. R. 60. 

F. Old houses in New Dorp. R. 56. 

G. Old houses in Richmond. R. 58. 



359 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



II. WATER ROUTES 



Many interesting trips may be taken by ferries and excursion steam- 
ers. A few only are suggested, the chief historic points to be seen en 
route being outlined. For definite information as to rates and hours 
of sailing, consult the daily papers. 



I. STATEN ISLAND AND THE HARBOR. 

A. Governor's Island. See R. 4- 

B. Liberty Island. Sec R. 4. 

C. Municipal Ferry to St. George, Staten Island. Boats leave the 

Battery at intervals of twenty to thirty minutes. Views of 
lower Manhattan; Governor's, Ellis and Liberty Islands; 
South Brooklyn; Jersey City and Bayonne. 

D. Central R. R. of N. J. Boat for Atlantic Highlands, leaving 

Cedar Street, or West Forty-second Street; nine boats daily, 
May-October. Same as (C) to Staten Island, then Quaran- 
tine, the Narrows, Forts Tompkins and Wadsworth (R. 55), 
Forts Lafayette and Hamilton (R. 42), Elm Tree Beacon (R. 
57 -.72) and Lower Bay. 
Points named above may be seen from the boats of the Mer- 
chant's Steamboat Company to Atlantic Highlands (pier foot 
of Franklin Street) ; the Midland Beach Steamboat " IVilliani 
Stone" (five trips from the Battery, Saturday, Sunday and 
holidays) and the Iron Steamboat Company's boats to Coney 
Island and Rockazvay. 

E. A'. Y. and N. J. Steamboat Company boat to Elizabeth, Totten- 

ville, Perth Amboy and Key port (from Coenties Slip). Daily, 
except Sundays and holidays at 2:30; points on the north and 
west shores of Staten Island. (R. 53 and 60). Return by 
train from Tottenville. 

F. P. R. R. Annex Ferry to Jersey City; from Fulton Street, Brook- 

lyn; boats every ten minutes. Lower Manhattan and islands 
of Upper Bay. (R. 4). 



360 



Water SPECIAL ROUTES Routes 

II. HUDSON RIVER. 

G. Palace Iron Day Line Steamers to Yonkers; from foot of Des- 
brosses Street, West Forty-second Street and West One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-ninth Street. (Connection from Fulton Street, 
Brooklyn by special ferry). Daily, except Sunday, 9 a. m., 
May-October. Dewitt Clinton Park (R. 18 :C); Soldiers' and 
Sailors' Monument (R. 18:5); Columbia Library, Grant's Tomb 
and Claremont (R. 19:3, 7, 9); Fort Lee (R. 19: Side Trip); 
Fort Washington Point (R. 25); Fort Tryon (R. 26); north 
end of Manhattan (R. 28b); Spuyten Duyvil, Riverdale and 
Font Hill (R. 29: a.). 

Leave Boat at Yonkers to see Manor Hall ; take Riverdale Ave- 
nue car south to Valentine Lane for points in R. 29. 

Points med in (G) may be seen from the Ben Franklin Trans- 
portation Company's boat to Yonkers ; leaves Franklin Street 
3 p. m., daily except Sunday. 

H. Riverside and Fort Lee Ferry to Edgewoter, N. J., from West 
One Hundred and Thirtieth Street every half hour. Points 
named in Side Trip to Fort Lee, R. 19. 

Ill, EAST RIVER AND SOUND. 

L Harlem and Morrisania Transportation Line to Harlem, Mor- 
risania. Long Island City, Astoria, Ward's and Randall's Isl- 
ands, from Pier 30, East River, foot of Roosevelt Street. East 
River islands and shores (R. 20 and 45). 

J. Ferry to College Point from East Ninety-ninth Street ; boats leave 
Manhattan hourly in summer and at 9, 11, i and 3 in winter. 
(R. 2>2>, 45, 44 and 51 E). 

K. U. S. Government Boat to Forts Schuyler and Totten, Willet's 
Point, Fort Slocum and David's Island, from Pier 12, East 
River, foot of Wall Street, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 9 a. 
m. A party of not more than fifteen adults may secure a pass 
in advance from the Commandant, Fort Schuyler. (R. ^^). 
Many of the points in (I), (J) and (K) may be seen from 
the Sound steamers. 



361 



Water HISTORICAL GUIDE Routes 

IV. AROUND MANHATTAN. 

L. Sight Seeing Yachts make the tour of Manhattan twice daily, a 
lecturer on board explaining the points of interest. The chief 
historic buildings and localities seen en route are described in 
the Guide Book as follows : 

North River: Gansevoort Market, site of First State Prison and 
old houses (R. 8: i, 7, 8) ; Aquarium, Battery Park and isl- 
ands (R. 4); Custom House and Bowling Green (R, 1:4, 5). 

East River: Jeannette Park (R. 3:33, 34), Navy Yard and 
Martyrs' Tomb (R. 37: 9, 10); Corlaer's Hook Park (R. 13: 
28) ; Kip's Bay, Shot Tower, Smith and Schermerhorn Houses, 
East River Islands and Hell Gate (R. 20); Hallett's Point 
and Astoria (R. 45) ; Horn's Hook, East River Park and 
Gracie House (R. 20) ; sites of Bronck and Gouverneur Mor- 
ris Houses (R. 31:49, 50). 

Harlem River: Macomb's Dam (Central) Bridge (R. 30:25); 
Washington's Headquarters, High Bridge and Fort George 
(R. 23: 47, 50, 53); Hall of Fame, New York University (R. 
30:30); Inwood and Marble Hill (R. 27 and 28), 

The Ship Canal : Spuyten Duyvil (29 a) ; Cold Spring and the 
north end of Manhattan (R. 28b: 93-95)- 

Hudson River: Fort Tryon (R. 26) ; Fort Washington and Fort 
Washington Point (R. 24 and 25) ; Fort Lee, N. J. (R. 19 
Side Trip) ; Claremont, Grant's Tomb, Columbia University 
(R. 19: 3, 7, 9); Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (R. 18:5); 
DeWitt Clinton Park (R. 18 :C). 



3^2 



SPECIAL ROUTES 
III. CARRIAGE AND AUTOMOBILE ROUTES. 

MANHATTAN. 

A. Fifth Avenue Electric Bus : Washington Square to East Nine- 

tieth Street. Washington Square (R. lo) ; old First Presbyter- 
ian Church and Lenox Houses (R. 14: 10); Madison Square, 
site of Fifth Avenue Hotel, Worth Monument, Farragut Monu- 
ment (R. 15:24-28); Marble Collegiate Church and the Church 
of the Transfiguration (R. 15: 40, 41); Brick Presbyterian 
Church, New York Public Library, Collegiate Church of St. 
Nicholas, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Sherman Statue (R, 17: 2, 
3, 5, 8) ; Hunt Monument and Lenox Library ; Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. 

B. Fifth Avenue Electric Bus, West Side line. Same as A to 

Fifty-seventh Street. At the Circle pass Columbus Column, R. 
17:9. 

C. Uptoivn Route: Sight Seeing Automobile. 

These automobiles usually go up Fifth Avenue, across northern 
Central Park and along Riverside Drive, covering most of the 
points in (A) and (B) and, in addition, the following points 
in Central Park: McGown's Pass, Fort Clinton, Block House 
No. I (R. 21 : 21-25). 

D. Downtown Route: Sight Seeing Automobile, 

These cars usually go south on Fifth Avenue to Waverly Place 
and thence down Broadway to the Battery, return via Broad 
and Wall Streets and the East Side. Madison Square (R. 15) ; 
old First Presbyterian Church and Lenox Houses (R. 14:10); 
Washington Square (R. 10) ; Hotel Raleigh and site of Niblo's 
Garden (R. 13:36); City Hall Park with adjacent public 
buildings, Statue of Nathan Hale and Post Office (R. 5) ; As- 
tor House and St. Paul's Chapel (R. 6:18, 19) ; Trinity Church 
and Churchyard (R. 2:19); Revolutionary cannon, historical 
tablets, the Stevens House, Bowling Green and Custom House 
(R. I, reversed) ; Battery Park and Aquarium (R. 4) ; Fraunces 
Tavern (Excursion VI) ; Willett tablet and Stock Exchange 
(R. 3:41, 42); Wall Street (R. 2). 



Automobile HISTORICAL GUIDE Routes 

E. Upper Manhattan. 

Broadway to One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street and east to 
Convent Avenue, north to One Hundred and Forty-third Street, 
passing the College of the City of Nev^^ York and Hamilton 
Grange (R. 23:41). West on One Hundred and Forty-third to 
Broadway, then north, passing tablets at One Hundred and 
Forty-seventh, One Hundred and Fifty-third and One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-ninth Streets, Trinity Cemetery, buildings of 
the Hispanic Society of America and the American Numis- 
matic Society (R. 23:43 a, b, c; 45; 46). East on One Hun- 
dred and Sixty-second Street to Edgecomb Avenue to Wash- 
ington's Headquarters (R. 23:47); west on One Hundred and 
Sixty-second Street to Amsterdam Avenue and north to High 
Bridge (R. 23:50); west on One Hundred and Eighty-first 
Street to Fort Washington Avenue, passing Holyrood Church 
on the left (R. 24: 58, 59) ; north on Fort Washington Avenue, 
passing Fort Washington Monument and the Bennett House 
on the left and Death Gap on the right (R. 24: 60, 61, 62); 
Libby Castle on the right, site of Fort Tryon and tablet on the 
left and the Abbey on the right (R. 26: 68, 69, 70) ; descend 
the hill beyond the Abbey to Broadway and go north, passing, 
on the left, just beyond the public school, the old Dyckman 
House (27:98); the 12th Milestone and the Marble Arch 
(R. 28: 78, 79); on the right, the colonial burying ground 
(28:80); cross the U. S. Ship Canal (R, 27:77), see, on the 
right, the Farmers' Bridge (R. 27:76); cross the Broadway 
Bridge, noting, to the left, old King's Bridge (R. 27:73). 

THE BRONX. 

F. (Continuation of E). From Broadway Bridge, go north on Broad- 

way, passing the Macomb HouSe (R. 29:2) ; Van Cortlandt Park 
and Mansion (R. 29: 3-11) ; on Newton Avenue, just west of 
and paralleling Broadway, are the 15th Milestone, Van Cort- 
landt Miller's House and the Hadley and Samler Houses (R. 
29: 13-15); continue to Valentine Lane, just beyond the City 
Line, go west to Hawthorn Avenue, passing Washington's 
chestnut and the Lawrence House (R. 29: 18, 19); south on 
Hawthorn Avenue to the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum; 



364 



Automobile SPECIAL ROUTES Routes 

see the statue of John Watts and, from a point within the 
grounds, near the river, Font Hill (R. 29:19); return by the 
same route to Broadway. 

G. Circular Trip through' the Bronx. 

Fifth, Lenox or Seventh Avenue to One Hundred and Twenty- 
Fifth Street, east to First Avenue and across Willis Avenue 
Bridge at the north end of which turn back one block to the 
Southern Boulevard ; go east to Hunter's Point Road and fol- 
low Route 31. Return to Southern Boulevard, continue to 
Fox Corners (R. 31 : 59, 60) ; from here follow Westchester 
Avenue to the village of Westchester, see. St. Peter's Church 
(R. 2>2> a :98) ; cross Westchester Creek Causeway, site of the 
Battle of Westchester <R. 2)2, a:96). Go down Throgg's Neck 
(Fort Schuyler) Road to Fort Schuyler, following Route 2<Z\ 
from the Spy Oak (R. 33a 194) continue to and cross Pel- 
ham Bridge, then go down City Island Road to visit points 
on Route 34. At the end of Route 34 cross the Hutchinson 
River Bridge and turn to the right into Eastchester to see the 
Groshon and Vincent-Halsey Houses and St. Paul's Church (R. 
34a: 130-132); follow Nelson Avenue (East Two Hundred 
and Thirty-third Street) to the west, passing the Seton Man- 
sion, the cave and falls near by in the woods (R. 34a:i28). 
Cross Rattlesnake Brook to the White Plains Road which fol- 
low to the City Line, passing the Havens, Hustace and Pen- 
field Houses (R. 30 b: 40-43); return to Two Hundred and 
Thirty-third Street and go west past Woodlawn Cemetery to 
Napier Avenue, which follow north to Two Hundred and 
Thirty-seventh Street to see the Stockbridge Indian tablet (R. 
29:12), follow Mt. Vernon Avenue (Old Mile Square Road) to 
Two Hundred and Thirty-third Street, go to the right into Van 
Cortlandt Park. Keep south past the Golf Links, turn to the 
right under the railroad bridge and again to the right to the 
Van Cortlandt Mansion (R. 29: 3-10); go back under the 
railroad and turn to the left to Gun Hill Road which follow 
to Mosholu Parkway, crossing Jerome Avenue; see the new 
reservoir on the right. Continue on the Parkway to Bronx 
Park to visit points on Route 32:72-81. From the Botanical 
Museum go east to the drinking fountain, turn left, passing 
Hemlock Grove, to the right and across Bronx River, from 



365 



Automobile HISTORICAL GUIDE Routes 

the second fountain turn right to the Lorillard Mansion, then 
south to cross road and to the right for the Snuff Mill and 
Old Fashioned Flower Garden. Return to the main road and 
go south on Pelham Avenue where turn to the right, passing 
the entrance to the Zoological Park. Continue west on Pel- 
ham Avenue, passing on the left the Howell and Stenton 
Houses (R. 32:66, 67); at Fordham Square see Nolan's Hotel 
(R. 32:68); and, near by, St. John's College (R. 32:71); fol- 
low Fordham Road up hill to Kingsbridge Road, turn to right 
at One Hundred and Ninety-second Street to see Poe Cottage 
and Park (R. 32:69); follow Kingsbridge Road to the left, 
passing Fordham Manor Reformed Church (R. 30a :32). Fol- 
low Aqueduct Avenue south, crossing Featherbed Lane ; at 
east end of Washington Bridge turn south on Boscobel Ave- 
nue and continue to and then down Jerome Avenue, pass- 
ing en route the Devoe Cottage and the Cromwell House (R. 
30: 29, 27). Cross Central Bridge into Manhattan. 

BROOKLYN 

H. Prospect Park, Flatbush and Flatlands. 

Follow Routes 38, 39, 40 and return from the Magaw Homestead 
via Ocean Avenue. 

I. Fort Hamilton, New Utrecht and Prospect Park. 

Shore Road through Bay Ridge to Fort Hamilton, then follow 
Routes 42, 43 and 43a; return via Twenty-second Avenue and 
Ocean Parkway to Prospect Park and reverse Route 38. 

QUEENS. 

J. Long Island City, Woodside and Corona. 

Queensboro Bridge or Thirty-fourth Street Ferry to Long Island 
City; follow Borden Avenue to Jackson Avenue, see Jackson, 
Riker, Purdy and Lent Farmhouses (R. 47) ; turn at Thomp- 
son Avenue into Elmhurst (R. 49). 

K. Astoria to North Beach. 

Astoria Ferry and follow^ R. 45 to the Lawrence burial ground 
iZZ) ; continue on Winthrop Avenue or the Old Bowery Road 
to the Moore House (R. 44:8) and follow Route 44 to North 
Beach. 

366 



Automobile SPECIAL ROUTES Routes 

L. Flushing and Jamaica. 

Astoria Ferry, Fulton Street, Eastern Boulevard, Franklin Street, 
Flushing Avenue to Flushing; then follow Route 51 A; from 
Flushing take Main or Jamaica Avenue to Jamaica, then fol- 
low Route 52. 

RICHMOND. 

The routes in Richmond (53-60) are best covered by carriage, al- 
though many roads are suitable for automobiles. 



367 



NOTES 



368 



APPENDICE 

A. The Milestones and the Old Post Road. 

B. Historical Monuments, Statues and Tablets. 

C. Notable Historic Buildings. 

D. Museums, Libraries and Collections. 

E. Historic Trees, Rocks and other Objects. 



369 



HISTORICAL GUIDE 



POST ROADS AND MILESTONES. 
By George W. Nash, M. D. 

The associations of highways and milestones is so intimate that 
a few words may be said of milestones in general. These stones, 
which now call forth a merely sentimental interest, were considered 
by our forefathers a necessity. In 1768 the State of New York 
passed the following : " As milestones are a great public convenience, 
removing or damaging any milestone is punishable by a fine of three 
pounds for such damage, part to go to the informant, part to be ap- 
plied to the repair of the damage, and a third part to be paid to the 
overseers of the town in which the offence shall be committed." If 
unable to pay a fine, the party was to suffer thirty days' imprison- 
ment. This law still remains in effect except that a term of im- 
prisonment of two years may be imposed. 

No less person than Benjamin Franklin selected the positions for 
many milestones along the highways, when as Postmaster General, 
in a specially contrived wagon, he measured off the miles at which 
the stones should be erected. Some of these so-called Franklin 
Milestones are still standing, one of them being on the Milford 
Road in Stratford, Conn. 

The first two or three milestones in Manhattan are of white stone, 
then a brown stone is used the rest of the way up the river until Red 
Hook is reached, when again a white stone is used. While mostly 
Arabic numerals are used in milestone inscriptions, occasionally we 
find the Roman numbers, as on the XXIV milestone at Scarsdale, 
N. Y. 

In early days the people of New Amsterdam felt the need of com- 
munication with the outer world, especially with their neighbors and 
kinspeople at Fort Orange. In the winter when the rivef was frozen 
over, it was a comparatively easy matter to arrange this communica- 
tion, although the post carrier's task was anything but a pleasant one 
as he skirted the shores of the wilderness and rounded the points 
through the gorges against the cold north wind, while skating his 
lonely way to Albany, with Indians often lurking along the route. 
Something more permanent was needed, and in 1669, the Albany 

371 



Milestones HISTORICAL GUIDE and Post Roads 

Post Road was established. This was so successful that three years 
later a road was opened from New York to Boston, by order of 
Governor Lovelace. On January i, 1673, a mounted post was in- 
stituted, among the multifarious duties being the carrying of the 
mails; it was not until 1772 that a stage coach appeared carrying 
passengers at the rate of four pence a mile. 

At that time the City Hall was on Wall Street, at the corner of 
Nassau, where now stands the Sub-Treasury. Broadway up to St, 
Paul's was opened mainly to reach the Post Road where Park Row- 
now begins, any further development of the street being undreamed 
of, even to accommodate the outlying farms along the Hudson. From 
the site of the Post Office the Post Road ran through Park Row, up 
the Bowery and Fourth Avenue to Madison Square (Excursion V, 
Section II) whence it turned and twisted northward over toward the 
East River, then doubled on itself. About Eighty-sixth Street it en- 
tered the boundaries of the present Central Park, went through Mc- 
Gown's Pass ; thence continued more or less steadily to the northwest 
until it struck the lines of Broadway and Kingsbridge Road, when it 
went soberly along to the toll bridge over Spuyten Duyvil Creek 
(Excursion IV, 2). After getting well over the bridge, the road 
soon separated into the Albany Post Road, following Broadway 
through Yonkers and up the river; and the Boston Post Road, going 
up the hill to the right across to Williamsbridge, thence across 
country through Eastchester to New Rochelle, and beyond 
to Boston. So long ago as the English occupation, the people 
of New York, feeling crowded, overflowed into Harlem, whence 
the Dutch farmers casting their eyes across the Kills, saw a 
country " fair to look upon," Means of getting across were 
soon considered and a ferry established connecting with the road to 
Harlem which branched off from the Post Road at Central Park. 
(Excursion IV, Section i). This ferry was at about Third Avenue 
and One Hundred and Thirty-first Street and a bridge was built in 
1795. As the lower Bronx section across the Kills grew, old trails 
were developed, the early Westchester Path becoming a Post Road, 
following the line of Third Avenue and Boston Road to Bronx Park 
and then northeast, until it joined the early road some distance above, 
thus making quite a cut-off from New York to this junction, saving the 
long detour around Kingsbridge. Lonely as the road was, it was 
not without interesting features. Hardly had the traveler left the 
starting point when he arrived at the first Kissing Bridge, near Chat- 
ham Square; then came the milestones telling slowly, but steadily, the 

372 





15 Milestone 



1 Milestone 





1 '^RWI 




9 Milestone New Utrecht 

Photographed by G. IV. Nash 



Milestones POST ROADS and Post Roads 

progress made, and, as taverns and road houses were always con- 
venient, there was ever a place for rest and refreshment. Among 
the old road houses may be mentioned the Bull's Head Tavern, near 
the first milestone, where the friends of the traveler who had ac- 
companied him thus far, drank to his health and safety on his jour- 
ney to the wilderness beyond. 

At the second milestone, where Cooper Union now stands, was the 
Bowery Village Church. Cato's Road House at Fifty-second Street 
was a noted hostelry; at Seventy-second Street was another Kissing 
Bridge. 

That part of the road near McGown's Pass has a special interest 
from its connection with the march of the British before the Battle of 
Harlem Heights and the presence of Forts Clinton and Fish. At the 
bridge across Spuyten Duyvil Creek, also a Kissing Bridge, there 
was a celebrated tavern well described by Madame Knight where 
sleighing parties came out from town for their frolics. Thence the 
traveler on either of the diverging Post Roads had more time for 
the enjoyment of the scenery, as the evidences of civilization faded 
away and the wilderness opened before him broken only occasionally 
by village or hamlet. 

According to the old maps there was, starting from the City Hall in 
Wall Street, a stone for every mile in what is now Manhattan and 
the Bronx. With the erection of the present City Hall (1803-12) 
these milestones were replaced to bring them in conformity with the 
new starting point. This accounts for the apparent discrepancies in 
their names. Some of the milestones have disappeared, while others 
have had a varied experience. Some of the stones have been used 
by bill posters ; one was rescued from a police station and now 
stands in good surroundings not at all embarrassed by the falsehood 
showing on its face ; another was removed from a tottering position 
in a neglected section of the road and now occupies a place safe 
from destruction ; one stone that stood in the way of public improve- 
ment was apparently improved off the earth ; another reposes in a 
back yard uptown, while still another has its resting place in a cellar. 

Milestones in Manhattan. 

1. Bowery, opposite Rivington Street. 

2. Third Avenue, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets. 

4. Third Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street. 

5. Third Avenue and Seventy-seventh Street. 

7. Third Avenue and One Hundred and Seventeenth Street. 

Z73 



Milestones HISTORICAL GUIDE and Post Roads 

7. Another stone, now stored at 107 West One Hundred and 
Twenty-second Street. (The duplicate 7 Milestone was prob- 
ably on the eastern Post Road after it branched off the old 
Post Road near Central Park). 

9. One Hundred and Fifty-second Street, between Amsterdam and 
St. Nicholas Avenues. 

10. 561 West One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street. 

11. Broadway and One Hundred and Eighty-first Street. 

12. Kingsbridge Road and Two Hundred and Ninth Street, Inwood. 
15. Albany Avenue, near Spuyten Duyvil Parkway, King;sbridg'e 

(near Van Cortlandt Mansion). 

Milestones in the Bronx. 
10. One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Street and Boston ROad. 

13. Boston Road, near Pelham Parkway (this stone has lately dis- 

appeared and may be in the vicinity). 
15. Boston Road, near Eastchester. 

Milestones in Brooklyn. 

At Sheepshead Bay, corner of Neck Road and Ryder's Lane. In- 
scription reads: ''8 Miles and ( ) quarters to Brockland 
Ferry." 

At Van Pelt Manor, New Utrecht; has two inscriptions: one reads: 
"8i Mile to N. York Ferry This Road To Denys's Ferry 2.| 
Mile." The other reads, " 10^ Mile to N. York Ferry This 
Road. To Jamaica 15 Mile." 

Milestones in Queens. (All between Long Island City and Flushing). 
At Jackson Avenue, near Grinnell Avenue: "5 Miles to 34th Street 

Ferry, i Mile to Flushing Bridge." 
At Jackson, near Buckley Avenue: "3 Miles to 34th Street Ferry, 

3 Miles to Flushing Bridge." 
At Jackson, near Hulst Avenue: "2 Miles to 34th Street Ferry, 4 

Miles to Flushing Bridge." 

Milestone in Richmond. 

Formerly at corner of Signs Road and Richmond Turnpike, now in 
Borough Hall, St. George, in the rooms of the Staten Island 
Association of Arts and Sciences. Inscription reads: " ( ) 
miles to N. Yorke." 

374 



MILESTONES. 



MILESTONES IN BLOOMINGDALE. 
By Hopper Striker Mott. 

Little attention, if any, has been given to the two lines of mile- 
stones along the Bloomingdale Road. The first stone was about op- 
posite the present Twenty-fourth Street, at the junction of the Post 
Road. This advertisement from the Columbian of June 6, 1815, has 
been found : 

" A stray steer was found on the premises of the subscriber on the 
5th of August last. The owner may have the said steer by proving 
property and paying all reasonable charges. 

" Isaac Varian Jun. 
" Bloomingdale — 3 mile stone." 

This also fixes the Bloomingdale name as extending as far south 
as Twenty-third Street. 

The fourth stone must have been at about Forty-fourth Street and 
we have this advertisement from the Mercantile Advertiser of 
December 10, 1814, confirming the location there : 

" To let for one or more years, the farm at Bloomingdale, near the 
four mile stone, known by the name of Eden's Farm, consisting of 
about 22 acres of land, on which are two dwelling houses and 2 farms 
and to which may be added 2 pieces of pasture land of about 10 
acres each. Apply to 

" John Jacob Astor, cor. Pine and Pearl Streets." 

This farm was owned by Medcef Eden, an Englishman, and ex- 
tended as far south as Forty-first Street. It was acquired by Astor 
under foreclosure in 1803 for $25,000. So much for the distances 
from Wall Street. 

The evidences for saying that there was a second series marking 
the distance from the City Hall is as follows : We have personally 
seen a stone which stood on the Road at Fifty-fourth Street, during 
our boyhood, which was marked " Four miles from N. Y." 

In John Austin Stevens' notes to the History of the Chamber of 
Commerce, p. 314, he says: "The five mile stone stands near the 
corner of Seventy-fourth Street and the Bloomingdale Road, opposite 

375 



Milestones HISTORICAL GUIDE in Bloomingdale 

grounds lately owned by Pelatiah Perit (20tli President of the 
Chamber) and the 6 mile stone near Ninety-sixth Street, in front of 
the property of Dr. Williams." 

The Evening Post announced that John Moir opened the Bloom- 
ingdale Academy in 1815, located 5 miles from the city, on the Bloom- 
ingdale Road. This was at Seventy-fourth Street. 

Samuel Beman, A. M., opened a boarding school for small boys in 
1838 at the six mile stone, situated " on Dr. Valentine Mott's beauti- 
ful mansion grounds." The house stood at Ninety-fourth Street. 

The 7 mile stone was at One Hundred and Sixteenth Street and 
the 8 at One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Street, a half mile south of 
the junction of the Bloomingdale and Kingsbridge Roads at One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Street. 



376 



APPENDIX B. 

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS, STATUES AND TABLETS. 

Monuments and Statues in Manhattan. 

N. B. Those in cemeteries and churchyards and within buildings 
are, as a rule, omitted. 

Columbus Colum/n, at the Circle, Fifty-ninth Street and Eighth 
Avenue; has reliefs by Gaetano Russo; presented by Italian citizens 
of the city. R. 17. 

Firemen's Monument, Hudson Park, to some Volunteer Firemen ; 
erected by members of Eagle Fire Engine Company, No. 13. R. 8. 

Grant's Tomb, Riverside Drive, near One Hundred and Twenty- 
second Street ; erected by popular subscription, under the care of the 
Grant Monument Association. R. 19. 

Martyrs' Monument, Trinity Churchyard; erected by the Trinity 
Corporation to the memory of American patriots who died in British 
Revolutionary prisons. R. 2. 

Mural Monument to Major-General Richard Montgomery, under 
the Broadway Portico of St. Paul's Chapel, Broadway and Fulton 
Street. R. 6. 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Riverside Drive and Eighty- 
ninth Street; erected by the city to the heroes of the Civil War. R. 18. 

Washington Arch, Washington Square; designed by Stanford 
White; erected by popular subscription on the one hundredth an- 
niversary of the inauguration of Washington. R. 10. 

Worth Monument, Broadway and Twenty-fifth Street; designed by 
Jas. C. Batterson; erected by the Corporation of the City. R. 15. 

Sculptured Pediment, N. Y. C. and H. R. R. R. Freight Station, 
Hudson Street, to the railroad achievements of Vanderbilt. R. 9. 



Chester A. Arthur, Madison Square, designed by G. E. Bissell. R. 15. 

Bust of Edwin Booth, 70 West Twenty-third Street, marking the 
site of Booth's Theatre. R. 15. 

Simon Bolivar, at the West Eighty-first Street entrance to Central 
Park ; by De La Cora, the gift of the people and the Government of 
Venezuela. 

Roscoe Conkling, Madison Square ; by J. Q. A. Ward, R. 15. 

377 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Dezvitt Clinton; (i) 52-56 Broadway; by J. Massey Rhind. R. i; 
(2) Hall of Records; by Philip Martiny. R. 5; (3) Chamber of 
Commerce, 65 Liberty Street, R. 7. 

Cadzvaladcr Colden, Hall of Records; by Philip Martiny. R. 5. 

Columbus: (i). Central Park, near the Eighth Avenue and Fifty- 
ninth Street entrance; (2), Mall, Central Park; a replica of Sufiors 
statue ; erected by the New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety; (3), McGown's Pass Tavern, Central Park. 

S. S. Cox, Astor Place ; by Louise Lawson ; erected by the letter- 
carriers of the United States. R. 11. 

Peter Cooper, in front of Cooper Union, Fourth Avenue and Bow- 
ery; by St. Gaudens ; erected by popular subscription. R. 11. 

William E. Dodge, Broadway and Thirty-sixth Street ; by J. Q. A. 
Ward ; erected by the merchants of the city. 

Abraham de Peyster, Bowling Green; Geo. E. Bissell, sculptor; 
erected by John Watts de Peyster. R. i. 

Mayor James Duane, Hall of Records; by Philip Martiny. R. 5. 

David P. De Fries, Hall of Records ; by Philip Martiny. R. 5. 

John Eriesson, Battery Park; by J. Scott Hartley; erected by the 
Corporation of the City. R. 4. 

Admiral Farragut, Madison Square; by St. Gaudens; presented by 
the Farragut Memorial Association. R. 15. 

Benjamin Franklin: (i), Printing House Square; by Plassman; 
presented by Captain Albert De Groot. R. 5; (2), in front of the 
Staats Zeitung Building, Spruce and William Streets. R. 5. 

Horace Greeley (i). Printing House Square; by J. Q. A. Ward; 
erected by private subscription. R. 5; (2), Broadway and Thirty- 
third Street (Greeley Square) ; by Alexander Doyle; erected by a 
Grand Army Post and Typographical Union. 

Gutenberg: (i), on the Staats Zeitung Building, William and 
Spruce Streets. R, 5; (2), Hoe Building, Grand and Sheriff Streets. 

R. 13. 

Garibaldi, Washington Square ; by Giovanni Turini ; erected by 
Italian residents of New York City. R. 10. 

Alexander Hamilton: (i), on the Chamber of Commerce, 65 Lib- 
erty Street; presented by John S. Kennedy. R. 7; (2), near Hamilton 
Hall, Columbia University; by Ordway Partridge. R. 19; (3), bust 
on the duelling ground at Weehawken. R. 18; (4), on the West 
Drive, near the Metropolitan Museum, Central Park; by Conradts ; 
presented by his son, John C. Hamilton. 



378 



HISTORICAL STATUES Manhattan 

Bust of Richard M. Hunt, Fifth Avenue and Seventieth Street; by 
D. C. French ; the gift of several art societies. 

Bust of Alexander L. Hollcy, inventor of Bessemer steel, in Wash- 
ington Square; by J. Q. A. Ward; erected by Mechanical Engineers 
of Europe and America. R. lo. 

Henry Hudson, 52-56 Broadway; by J. Massey Rhind. R. I, 

Nathan Hale, City Hall Park; by MacMonnies. R. 5. 

Caleb Heathcote, Hall of Records ; by Philip Martiny. R. 5. 

VVinfield Hancock, in Hancock Square, St. Nicholas Avenue and 
One Hundred and Twenty-third Street ; erected by members of the 
Grand Army of the Republic. 

Bust of Washington Irving, Bryant Park ; by Beer ; presented by 
Joseph Wiener. R. 17. 

John Jay, Chamber of Commerce, 65 Liberty Street. R. 7. 

Lafayette, Union Square; by Bartholdi; presented by French Fesi- 
dents. R. 14. 

Lincoln, Union Square ; by H. K, Browne ; erected by popular sub- 
scription under the auspices of the Union League Club, R. 14. 

Bust of Mazzini, West Drive, Central Park; by Turini; presented 
by Italian residents. 

S. F. B. Morse, Central Park, near the East Seventy-second Street 
entrance ; by Byron M. Pickett ; erected by the telegraphic craft. 

Peter Stuyvesant: (i), 52-56 Broadway; by J. Massey Rhind, R. i; 
(2), Hall of Records; by Philip Martiny. R. 5; (3), effigy, outer 
wall of St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery, Second Avenue and Tenth Street. 
R. II. 

/. Marion Sims, Bryant Park; by Miller; erected by public sub- 
scription, R. 17. 

IV m. T. Sherman, Plaza entrance to Central Park ; by St. Gaudens ; 
erected under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce. R. 17. 

Wm. H. Seward, Madison Square; by Randolph Rogers. R. 15. 

General Frans Sigel, Riverside Drive and One Hundred and Sixth 
Street; by Karl Bitter, erected by public subscription. 

Washington: (i), Union Square; by H, K. Browne; erected by 
popular subscription. R. 14; (2), Sub Treasury; by J. Q. A. Ward; 
erected by public subscription under the auspices of the Chamber of 
Commerce, R. 2; (3), Washington and Lafayette, Manhattan Av- 
enue and One Hundred and Fourteenth Street; by Bartholdi and the 
gift of C. B. Rouss. 



379 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Daniel Webster, West Drive, near Seventy-second Street, Central 
Park; by Thos. Ball; the gift of Gordon W. Burnham. 

Allegorical Statuary. 

Statue of Liberty, Bedloe's or Liberty Island; by Bartholdi ; paid 
for by popular subscription in France, the pedestal by popular sub- 
scription in America. R. 4. 

The Pilgrim, Central Park, near the East Seventy-second Street 
entrance; by J. Q. A. Ward; presented by the New England Society 
of the City of New York. 

The Seventh Regiment (a figure of a private soldier of this com- 
mand), on the West Drive of Central Park, near the Seventy-second 
Street entrance ; by J. Q. A. Ward ; erected in commemoration of 
those members who fell during the Civil War. 

Recording of the Purchase of Manhattan, Hall of Records; by 
Albert Weinert. R. 5- 

The Consolidation of Greater New York, Hall of Records; by Al- 
bert Weinert. R. 5. 

The Movement of American Commerce, pediment of the Stock 
Exchange; by J. Q. A. Ward. R. 3. 

Groups representing Asia, Africa, Europe and America, on Custom 
House; by D. C. French. Above the cornice are statues representing 
France, England, Germany, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Holland, 
Venice, Genoa, Phoenicia, Greece and Rome; by Elwell, Gelert, Grae- 
fly, Jacques, Lukeman, Loui? St. Gaudens and Tonetti. 

Tablets in Manhattan. 

Period of the Dutch Occupation. 

41 Broadway, first white men's houses in Manhattan; Holland So- 
ciety. R. I. 

Collector's Office, Custom House, Fort Amsterdam. R. I. 

Middle Dutch Church, Seventh Street and Second Avenue, Church 
of St. Nicholas in Fort Amsterdam and the original Middle Church 
on Exchange Place. R. ii. 

Within the Middle Dutch Reformed Church, to Minuit, Krol, Huyck 
and MichacUus, officers of the original church. R. 11. 



380 



HISTORICAL TABLETS Manhattan 

Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church, Forty-eighth Street and Fifth 
Avenue, the Church in the Fort. R. 17. 

23 Whitehall Street, house of Domine Bogardus and Anneke Jans 
Bogardus; Knickerbocker Chapter, D. A. R. R. i. 

72, Pearl Street, Stadt Hiiys; Holland Society. R. 3. 

Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue, Peter Stuyvesant's pear tree; 
Holland Society. R. ii. 

Wall of Jewish Cemetery, Oliver Street and New Bowery, Urst 
Jewish Cemetery and a Revolutionary fort; American Scenic and 
Historic Preservation Society and the Jewish Historical Society. R. 
12. 

8-10 Pearl Street, first Dutch settlers; Holland Dames of New 
Netherlands. R. i. 

8-10 Peck Slip, Warehouse of Isaac Allerton; General Society of 
Mayflower Descendants. R. 7. 

Period of the English Occupation to 1765. 

Battery Park, opposite Custom FTouse (Fort George Monument) ; 
southwest bastion of Fort George; Corporation of the City of New 
York, replaced under the auspices of the American Scenic and His- 
toric Preservation Society and the New York Historical Society. R. i. 

East wall of Produce Exchange, First Huguenot Church; Huguenot 
Society of America. R. i. 

81 Pearl Street, first printing press in New York; New York His- 
torical Society. R. 3. 

Cotton Exchange, Hanover Square, Nezv York Gazette, the first 
New York newspaper; New York Historical Society. R. 3. 

Murray Street and West Broadway, Kings College. R. 6. 

Mutual Life Building, Nassau and Cedar Streets, Middle Dutch 
Church; Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. R. 7. 

Schieren Building, Cliff and Ferry Streets, the Old Swamp; Hide 
and Leather Association of New York. R. 7. 

First Presbyterian Church, old Presbyterian Church in Wall Street. 
R. 14. 

Tablet, on Custom House, to mark site of Fort Amsterdam; N. Y. 
Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America. 

Tablet, 48 Wall Street, to mark site of a bastion in the old city 
ivall; Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York. 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Period of the Revolution, 1765-1783. 

I Broadway, Kennedy House and the Statue of George III; Sons 
of the Revohition. R. i. 

Fraunces Tavern, 52 Pearl Street, (i) Frederick Samuel Tallmadge; 
Sons of the Revolution; (2), in the Long Room, establishment of the 
Chamber of Commerce, meeting of the Committee of Correspondence 
and Washington's Farezvell; Sons of the Revolution. R. 3. 

Broad and Beaver Streets, exploits of Marinus Willett; Sons of 
the Revolution. R. 3. 

City Hall, Reading of Declaration of Independence to the Army; 
Sons of the Revolution. R. 5. 

Within the General Post Office, Liberty Pole and Battle of Golden 
Hill; Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, D. A. R. R. 5. 

Ann and William Streets, Battle of Golden Hill; Sons of the 
Revolution. R. 7. 

Thames Street and Broadway, De Lanc'ey House (Burns' Coffee 
House), City Hotel, signing of Non-Important Agreement (?); Hol- 
land Society of New York. R. 6. 

Sub-Treasury, Washington in prayer at Valley Forge ; Lafayette 
Post No. 140, G. A. R. R. 2. 

Park space. Park Avenue and Thirty-seventh Street, Murray House, 
scene of Mrs. Murray's detention of British officers; Knickerbocker 
Chapter, D. A. R. R. 17. 

1497 Broadway, meeting of Washington and Putnam, September 15, 
1776; Sons of the Revolution. R. 18. 

Engineering Building, Columbia University, Battle of Harlem 
Heights; Sons of the Revolution. R. 19. 

Park Space, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street and Broad- 
way, -first line of defences in the Revolution; Washington Heights 
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. R. 23. 

Wall of Trinity Cemetery, Broadway and One Hundred and Fifty- 
third Street, defences of the Revolution; Sons of the Revolution. R. 

2Z' 



3S2 



HISTORICAL TABLETS Manhattan 

One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Street and Broadway, third line of 
defences in the Revolution; Washington Heights Chapter, Daughters 
of the American Revolution. R. 23. 

Washington's Headquarters (Roger Morris, Jumel Mansion), 
Headquarters of Washington; Washington Heights Chapter, D. A. R. 
R. 23. 

Washington's Headquarters, acquisition of the building and grounds 
for a museum; Park Department. R. 23. 

Fort Washington Avenue, near One Hundred and Eighty-third 
Street, Fort Washington; James Gordon Bennett. R. 24. 

Fort Washington Avenue, near One Hundred and Ninety-sixth 
Street, Fort Try on; C. K. G. Billings and the American Scenic and 
Historic Preservation Society. R. 26. 

Within Holyrood Church, One Hundred and Eighty-first Street and 
Broadway, exploit of Margaret Corbin; Mary Washington Colonial 
Chapter, D. A. R. R. 24. 

Within the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church, Fifth Avenue and 
Forty-eighth Street, soldiers and sailors of the Revolution; Daugh- 
ters of the Revolution, State of New York. R. 17. 

Under barred window on Rhinelander Building, Rose and Duane 
Streets, Cuyler-Rhinelander Sugar House. R. 7. 

City Hall Park, near Bridge Terminal, Provost Prison; Mary Wash- 
ington Colonial Chapter, D. A. R. R. 5. 

23 Whitehall Street, Whitehall Ferry, scene of Washington's de- 
parture in 1783; Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, D. A. R. R. i. 

Modern Period, since 1783. 

Sub-Treasury, Ordinance of 1787; Ohio Company of Associates, R. 
2. 

Within the Sub-Treasury, inscribed slab on which Washington 
stood while delivering his first inaugural address. R. 2. 

Within St. Paul's Chapel, Centennial of Washington's inauguration; 
the Aisle Committee at services held in St. Paul's Chapel. R, 6. 

Within St. Paul's Chapel, One Hundredth Anniversary of Wash- 
ington's death. R. 6. 

Brooklyn Bridge Pier, Franklin Square, First Presidential Mansion; 
Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, D, A. R. R, 7- 



383 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Hamilton Grange, home of Alexander Hamilton; Washington 
Heights Chapter, D. A. R. R. 23. 

German Reformed Church, Baron Steuben. R. 20. 

WilHam and Wall Streets, cornerstone of the Bank of New York. 
R. 2. 

Directors' Room, Life Insurance and Trust Company, 52 Wall 
Street, cornerstone of the United States Branch Bank. R. 2. 

56 Wall Street, Morris Robinson and the establishment of the 
business of modern life insurance in America; Canadian Society of 
New York. R. 2. 

Within City Hall, two inscribed marble slabs transferred from the 
top course of the coping of City Hall, giving names of the Building 
Committee, architect, stone cutter, masons, etc., and a tablet in com- 
memoration of these being placed here on the 250th anniversary of 
the City Charter. R. 5. 

Block House No. i. Central Park, defences of the War of 1812; 
Woman's Auxiliary to the American Scenic and Historic Preserva- 
tion Society. R. 21. 

Block House No. 3, Morningside Park and One Hundred and 
Twenty-third Street, defences of War of 1812; Woman's Auxiliary 
to the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. R. 19. 

Near McGown's Pass, Central Park, Fort Clinton and McGown's 
Pass; children of the City History Club. R. 21. 

Aquarium, acquisition of Castle Garden for a Museum; Park De- 
partment. B. 4. 

Aquarium, Battery Park; to mark the place of defence called the 
West Battery during the War of 1812 and in honor of the Ninth 
Regiment, N. Y. State Artillery, stationed here 1812; erected by the 
National Society of the United States Daughters of 1812 and the 
National Guard. R. 4. 

Fayerweather Hall, Columbia University, defences of the War of 
1812; Empire State Society, Daughters of 1812. R. 19. 

90 Pearl Street, fire of 1835. R. 3. 

136 Fulton Street, Shakespeare Tavern and organization of Seventh 
Regiment; Veterans of the Seventh Regiment. R. 7. 

Grove Street School, Lafayette's visit to the old school in 1824; 
Charles R. Lamb. R. 8. 

Firemen's Monument, Hudson Park, acquisition by the city of St. 
John's Cemetery for a public park. R. 8. 



384 



HISTORICAL TABLETS Manhattan 

Within Middle Dutch Reformed Church, /. C. Lanphier, founder of 
Fulton Str'eet Prayer Meeting. R. ii. 

63 Prince Street, Gouverneur House, where President Monroe died; 
Woman's Auxiliary to the American Scenic and Historical Preser- 
vation Society. R. 13. 

Madison Avenue, between Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Streets, Colum- 
bia College. R. 17. 

5 West Tvi^enty-second Street, home of S. F. B. Morse. R. 15. 

Sidewalk, near west gate of Gramercy Park, gift of park land. R. 

14- 

University Place and Eighteenth Street, home of Ninth Regiment; 
Veterans of the Ninth Regiment. R. 14. 

North of Grant's Tomb, to the memory of General Grant; Li 
Hung Chang. R. 19. 

In Tompkins Square, to the memory of the victims of the Slocum 
disaster; erected by popular subscription. R. 11. 

Within the Middle Dutch Reformed Church, to the memory of 
the victims of the Slocum disaster. R. 11. 

50 Broadway, first skeleton frame steel structure; Society of 
Architecture and Ironmasters in New York. R. i. 

Twenty-second Street and Twelfth Avenue, Chelsea Improvement ; 
Dock Department. R. 16. 

Pavement in front of City Hall, iirst excavation for the Under- 
ground Railway. R. 5. 

City Hall Subway Station, completion of the iirst New York Sub- 
way. R. 5. 

West Street, near Bank Street, widening and improvement of West 
Street. R. 8. 

New York University Building, Washington Square, Andrew Has- 
zvell Green; Frederick W. Devoe. 



38s 



The Bronx HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Monuments, Statues and Tablets in the Bronx. 

Henry Hudson Monument, Spuyten Duyvil Hill; erected by the 
Henry Hudson Monument Committee of the Bronx Citizens' Hudson- 
Fulton Celebration Commission. 

Statue of Major-General Josiah Porter, north of Van Cortlandt 
Mansion ; erected by the National Guard, State of New York. R. 29. 

Monument to the Founders of New York University, on the Uni- 
versity Campus. R. 30. 

Tablet on Van Cortlandt Mansion, historic events connected with 
the house; Colonial Dames of the State of New York. R. 29. 

Inscription on the window from the Rhinelander Sugar House 
stating its use as a Revolutionary prison; placed in Van Cortlandt 
Park; by J. F. Oakley Rhinelander. R. 29. 

Tablet on cairn in Van Cortlandt Park, near Mount Vernon Ave- 
nue and Two Hundred and Thirty-seventh Street, in memory of 
the Stockbridge Indians who aided the patriots ^ in the Revolution ; 
Bronx Chapter of the Mount Vernon (New York) Chapter, D. A. R. 
R. 29. 

Tablet on Glover's Rock, near Bartow, Pelham Neck, to mark the 
Battle of Pell's Point; Bronx Chapter of the Mount Vernon Chap- 
ter, D. A. R. R. 34. 

Inscription on the Macedonia Hotel, City Island, marking the 
British Frigate Macedonia; placed by the War Department. R. 34. 

Tablets in St. Ann's Church, St. Ann's Avenue and One Hundred 
and Fortieth Street, to the memory of the Morris family. R. 31. 

Tablet on Chemistry Building, New York University, near site of 
Fort No. Eight, to the men of the Revolution and Revolutionary de- 
fences near by; Sons of the Revolution. R. 30. 

Tablets in the Hall of Fame, New York University, to honor great 
Americans. R. 30. 

Split Rock, Pelham Bay Park, in memory of Ann Marbury Hutch- 
inson; erected by the public school children of the Bronx. R. 34. 



386 



HISTORICAL MONUMENTS Brooklyn 

Monuments and Statues in Brooklyn. 

Martyrs' Tomb, Fort Greene Park, to the victims of the old prison 
ships in the Wallaboiit. 

Maryland Monument, Lookout Hill, Prospect Park, in honor of 
Maryland's Four Hundred in the Battle of Long Island ; presented 
by the Maryland Society, Sons of the American Revolution. R. 38. 

Monument to the United States soldiers who fell in China in 1856, 
Brooklyn Navy Yard. R. 2)7- 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch, main entrance to Prospect 
Park; by John H. Duncan, bas reliefs by Power, quadriga by Mac- 
Monnies ; to the heroes of the Civil War. R. 38. 

Skene Monument, triangle north of Prospect Park Plaza, by J. 
Massey Rhind. 

Henry Ward Beecher, in front of Borough Hall; by J. Q. A. Ward. 
R. 36. 

General Fowler, Fort Greene Park, 

General Grant, Bedford Avenue, near Dean Street; by William 
Ordway Partridge ; the gift of the Union League Club of Brooklyn. 

Alexander Hamilton, entrance to the Hamilton Club, Clinton and 
Remsen Streets. 

Washington Irving, Prospect Park, near the Italian Flower gar- 
den; the gift of Demas Barnes. 

Lincoln, Prospect Park, near the flower garden overlooking the 
lake; by popular subscription. 

Henry W. Maxwell, Prospect Park Plaza ; by his friends. 

General Slocum, Bedford Street and Eastern Parkway; by Mac- 
Monnies. 

James S. T. Stranahan, Prospect Park ; by subscription. 

Bust of Peter Turner, St. James Pro-Cathedral, Jay and Chapel 
Streets. R. 36. 

Major General Warren, Prospect Park Plaza; by Henry Baerer; 
presented by G. K. Warren Post No. 286, G. A. R. 

Washington, Plaza, Williamsburg; H. W. Shrady; the gift of Ex- 
Register James R. Howe. R. 35a. 



387 



Queens HISTORICAL GUIDE Richmond 

Tablets in Brooklyn. 

Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church, Colonial and Revolutionary 
events in connection with the church; Colonial Daughters of the 17th 
Century. R. 39. 

Smith-Gray Building, Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue, line of 
defence, Battle of Long Island; Sons of the Revolution. R. ^7- 

Battle Pass, East Drive, Prospect Park, Valley Grove, and outer 
Hue of defence, Battle of Long Island. R. 38. 

Fifth Avenue and Third Street, Vechte-Cortelyou House and Bat- 
tle of Long Island; Sons of the Revolution. R. 42. 

On Liberty Pole, in front of New Utrecht Dutch Reformed Church, 
Revolutionary Liberty Pole; Descendants of the Patriots who erected 
the first pole in 1783. R. 43. 

Borough Hall Subway Station, opening of the first Subway con- 
necting Manhattan and Brooklyn. R. 36. 

Monuments and Tablets in Queens. 

Soldiers' Monument, Flushing, to the heroes of the Civil War. R. 

51. 

Tablet, within St. George's Church, Flushing, to Francis Lewis, a 
signer of the Declaration of Independence. R. 51. 

Tablet on boulder, opposite the Bowne House, Flushing, to mark 
site of Fox Oaks; Flushing Historical Society. R. 51. 

Soldiers' Monument, Jamaica, to Civil War heroes; by F. W. 
Ruckstuhl. 

Tablet in Grace Church, Jamaica, to John A. King, Governor 
of New York. 

Tablets in Richmond. 

Two tablets on either side of the flight of steps of Borough Hall, 
giving the dates of principal events in the Borough of Richmond. R. 

53- 

Memorial slab on the Garibaldi House, Stapleton, to commemorate 
the residence of Garibaldi. R. 55. 

St. Andrew's Church, Richmond, in memory of Queen Anne's gift 
to the church. R. 58. 



388 



NOTES 



389 



NOTES 



390 



APPENDIX C 

NOTABLE HISTORIC BUILDINGS STANDING (1909). 
MANHATTAN. 

Fraunces Tavern, 52 Pearl Street, built 1719 by Etienne De Lancey. 

R. 3. 

Golden Hill Inn, 122-4 William Street, built about 1750. R. 7. 

St. Paul's Chapel, Broadway and Vesey Street, built 1764-6. R. 5. 

Washington's Headquarters (Roger Morris or Jumel Mansion), 
One Hundred and Sixty-second Street and Jumel Place, built shortly 
before the Revolution. R. 23. 

St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery, Second Avenue and Tenth Street, built 

1795-9- R. II. 

St. John's Chapel, 46 Varick Street, built 1803-7. R. 9. 

St. Patrick's Church (formerly the Cathedral), Mott and Prince 
Streets, built 1809. R. 13. 

Hamilton Grange, One Hundred and Forty-first Street and Con- 
vent Avenue, built 1802-4. R. 23. 

Grade House, East River Park, near Eighty-eighth Street, built 
1813. R. 20. 

Claremont, north end of Riverside Park, built shortly after the 
Revolution. R. 19. 

City Hall, City Hall Park, built 1803-12. R. 5. 

Aquarium (Castle Clinton or Southwest Battery), Battery Park, 
built 1807-11. R. 4. 

Fort Jay (Fort Columbus), Governor's Island, built about 181 1, 
R. 4. 

Castle Williams, Governor's Island, built about 181 1. R. 4. 

Southeast Battery, Governor's Island, built about 181 1. R. 4. 

Block House No. i. Central Park, built 1814. R. 21. 

Block House No. 3, Morningside Park and One Hundred and 
Twenty-third Street, built 1814. R. 19. 

United States Assay Office, 32 Wall Street, oldest Federal building 
in Manhattan, built 1823. R. 2. 

St. Luke's Chapel, Hudson Street, opposite Grove Street, built 1821- 
4. R. 8, 

391 



The Bronx HISTORICAL GUIDE Brooklyn 

St. Peter's Church, Barclay and Church Streets, the oldest Roman 
CathoHc Church in Manhattan, bulk 1838-9. R. 6. 

Trinity Church, Broadway, opposite Wall Street, built 1839-46. R. 2. 

Bedford Street Church, corner of Morton Street, built 1840. R. 8. 

John Street Church, between William and Nassau Streets, successor 
to the oldest Methodist Church in America, built 1841. R. 7. • 

THE BRONX. 

Macomb Mansion, Broadway and Two Hundred and Thirtieth 
Street, built 1693. R. 29. 

Van Cortlandt Mansion, Van Cortlandt Park; built 1748. R. 29. 

Hunt Mansion, Hunt's Point, built 1688. R. 31. 

Ferris Mansion, Westchester County Club grounds, near Throgg's 
Neck. Pre-Revolutionary. R. 33. 

St. Paul's Church, Eastchester, built 1765. R. 34a. 

St. Peter's Church, Westchester, on the site of the church of 1700. 
R. 33 a. 

Macedonia Hotel, City Island, consisting in part of a British frigate 
of the War of 1812. R. 34. 

Poe Cottage, Kingsbridge Road, Fordham. R. 32. 

BROOKLYN. 

Schenck-Crooke House, Mill Lane, Flatlands, built about 1650. R. 
40. 

Bergen Homestead, East Seventy-second Street, Bergen Beach, 
built about 1655. R. 40. 

Wyckoif House, Canarsie Lane and Remsen Place, Canarsie, 
1664. R. 41. 

Van Pelt Manor House, Eighty-first Street and Eighteenth Avenue, 
New Utrecht, built about 1664. R. 43. 

Van Brunt House, 1752 Eighty-fourth Street, built about 1660. R. 

43. 

Hick's Piatt House, Neck Road, Gravesend, built about 1660. R. 
43a. 

Gerritsen Tide Mill, Gerritsen's Creek, near Neck Road, on the 
site of the original mill of 1636. R. 40. 

Schenck House, Canarsie Park, built about 1670. R. 41. 

392 



;ie, built ^ 



Queens HISTORIC BUILDINGS Richmond 

Old Mill (now known as Van Wicklen Mill), Old Mill Village, 
New Lots, built 1770. R. 41. 

Flatbiish Dutch Reformed Church, corner of Flatbush and Church 
Avenues, built 1793-6, on the site of the oldest church in Long Island. 

R. 39. 

Erasmus Hall High School (concealed behind new structure), Flat- 
bush Avenue, near Erasmus Street, built 1786. R. 39. 

VanDerveer Homestead, 1159 Flatbush Avenue, built 1787 (98). R. 

39. 

Fort Lafayette (old Fort Diamond), the Narrows, built about 1812. 
R. 42. 

Fort Hamilton, built 1825-31, on the site of military works of 1808. 
R. 42. 

Biishwick Dutch Reformed Church, successor to the first church 
in Bushwick, built 1825. R. 35c. 

St. James Pro-Cathedral, Jay and Chapel Streets, first Roman 
Catholic church on Long Island, organized 1822. R. 2,6. 

Borough Hall, built for a City Hall, 1836-40. R. 36. 

QUEENS. 

Bowne House, Flushing, built 1655. R. 51. 

Quaker Meeting House, Flushing, built 1694-5. R- 5i- 

Garretson House, Flushing, built before 1700. R. 51, 

Moore House, Elmhurst, built about 1661. R. 49. 

Corner House, Elmhurst, built 17 16. R. 49. 

St. James Church, Elmhurst, built 1735. R. 49. 

Moore House, Steinway, built 1690-5. R. 44. 

Riker Homestead, Steinway, built before 1700. R. 44. 

De Witt Clinton House, Maspeth, built 1725. R. 46. 

King Mansion, Jamaica, built about 1750. R. 52, 

RICHMOND. 

Billopp House, Tottenville, built 1688. R. 60. 
Fountain House, New Dorp, built before 1700. R. 56. 
Guyon-Clarke House, New Dorp. R. 56. 
Lake-Tysen House, New Dorp. R. 56. 



393 



Richmond HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Moravian Church and Parsonage, New Dorp, built 1763. R. 56. 

Black Horse Tavern, New Dorp, pre-Revolutioiiary. R. 56. 

St. Andrew's Church, Richmond, on site of church established 1708. 

R. 59. 

Purdy's Hotel, Princess Bay, built about 1700. R. 60a. 

Barne-Tysen House, Karles Neck, land granted in 1667. R. 54. 

Christopher Homestead, Willow Brook, pre-Revolutionary. R. 54. 

Austin House, Rosebank, Stapleton, built about 1710. R. 55. 

Garibaldi House, Stapleton. R. 55. 

Forts Wadsworth and Tompkins, the Narrows, built 1847 on site 
of forts of War of 1812. R. 55. 

Banner's Hotel, Port Richmond, built about 1800. R. 53. 

Kreuzer-Pelton House, the Cove, West New Brighton, built 1722, 
R. 53. 

Sailors' Snug Harbor, West New Brighton, built 1833. R. 53. 



394 



APPENDIX D. 

MUSEUMS, COLLECTIONS, AND LIBRARIES 

Of special interest to students of local history. 

MANHATTAN. 

American Museum of Natural History (incorporated 1865) ; Man- 
hattan Square, Seventy-seventh-Eighty-first Streets, west of Central 
Park. Open (free) Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and 
hoHdays, 9-5; Sunday, 1-5; Tuesday and Saturday evenings (free) 
7-10; Monday and Tuesday (25c.). Free lectures Tuesday and Sat- 
urday 8 p. m., October to April. Collections to illustrate Natural 
History, Geology and Palaeontology. The Indian relics found in the 
upper end of Manhattan, the Bronx and Richmond are of particular 
interest. 

Metropolitan Museum of Art (incorporated 1870) ; near Fifth Ave- 
nue and Eighty-third Street, in Central Park. Open (free) Tues- 
day, Wednesday, Thursday, 10-5; Saturday, 10-10; Sunday after i 
p. m. ; Monday and Friday (25c.). Collections of. works of ancient 
and modern art. The Huntington Collection of likenesses of Wash- 
ington and Franklin, embracing drawings, engravings, prints, busts, 
pottery, medals and cameos is of special interest. On application, 
teachers may obtain a bulletin giving detailed information concerning 
the practical use of the collections for classes of children. 

The New York Aquarium, Battery Park. Open (free) every day 
in the year; 9-5, April 15-October 15; 10-4, October 16- April 14; 
closed Monday forenoon, except to teachers with classes and to mem- 
bers of the New York Zoological Society; when Monday is a holiday, 
open as on other days. Exhibits of fishes, turtles, crocodilians, frogs, 
salamanders, marine mammals and invertebrates. By arrangement 
with the Curator, the casemates, bomb proof and other traces of the 
old fort may be seen. 

Washington's Headquarters, One Hundred and Sixty-second street, 
east of St. Nicholas Avenue. Open (free) daily 10-5. Fitted up as 
a Colonial' Museum ; under the care of the Washington Headquarters 
Association. For detailed account see R. 22,. 



395 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Municipal Collections. 

In City Hall, City Hall Park. Open (free) 10-4 (except holidays) ; 
Saturday, 10-12. Governor's Room: portraits of Washington and for- 
mer governors ; battle flags ; furniture used by the officers and mem- 
bers of the first Federal Government. Aldermanic Chambers: por- 
traits; ceiling painting: New York welcoming the Nations. Mayor's 
Reception Office: portraits of Lafayette and of mayors since 1783. 
City Clerk's Office, OfUce of the President of the Board of Aldermen, 
Old Council Chamber and President's OfUce: Office of the Municipal 
Art Commission: portraits of historic persons and former officials. 

County Court House, City Hall Park: Portraits. 

Comptroller's Office, Stewart Building, Chambers Street and Broad- 
way : Portraits of Andrew H. Green and heroes of the War of 1812. 

Corporation Counsel's OMce, Hall of Records : Portraits. 

Criminal Courts Building, Centre and Franklin Streets: Allegorical 
mural paintings, portrait of Richard Riker. 

Hall of Records, Chambers and Centre Streets : Old records, dating 
back to the Dutch Period and early maps may be seen on application. 

Board of Education Building, Park Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street : 
Portraits of De Witt Clinton and former members of the Board of 
Education. 

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Twenty-sixth Street and 
Fourth Avenue : Mural paintings in the vestibule and Court Room : 
Portraits, 

General Post Office Law Library, City Hall Park : Portraits and 
tablets. 

State Arsenal, Seventh Avenue and Thirty-fifth Street: War relics 
and tablets from the Elm Street Armory. 

Private Museums and Collections. 

American Geographical Society (organized 1852), 15 West Eighty- 
first Street : Early maps, copies of Valentine's Manual, Annals of 
Albany, histories of the Counties of New York, documents and docu- 
mentary history of New York. Open 10-5, free to those introduced 
by members. 

American Numismatic Society, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, 
west of Broadway. Collection of 40,000 coins and medals of all coun- 

396 



HISTORICAL MUSEUMS Manhattan 

tries and all ages, and a large numismatic library. Open to members 
and their friends. 

Fraunces Tavern, 52 Pearl Street. Open (free) daily, under the 
care of the Sons of the Revolution. Collection of Revolutionary relics, 
flags, china, coins, medals, military commissions, letters, etc. See 
Excursion VI. 

Hispanic Society of America, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, 
west of Broadway. Open (free) daily, including Sundays, 1-5, ex- 
cept August, Christmas and Thanksgiving. Library open to holders 
of readers' cards, 10-5, except Sundays, legal holidays and the month 
of August. " A free museum and educational institution for the ad- 
vancement of the study of the Spanish and Portuguese language, liter- 
ature and history." Collections of manuscripts, pictures and maps. 

Chamber of Commerce, 65 Liberty Street. Admission only by mem- 
ber's card: Portraits of old New York merchants and public men 
connected with the advancement of commerce ; curios ; commercial 
statistics. 

Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, Cooper Union, 
Astor Place. Open (free) daily (secure pass at the office) 9-5, ex- 
cept Sunday and Monday ; closed July i-September 13. Collection of 
Colonial furniture, costumes, needle-work and relics of Peter Cooper. 

Exempt Firemen's Organisation, 10 Jefferson Market, Sixth Avenue 
and Tenth Street. Open (free) daily. Collection of old fire apparatus 
and pictures. 

Volunteer Firemen's Association, 220 East Fifty-ninth Street. Open 
(free) daily. Collection of old fire apparatus, pictures and documents. 

Museum of the Military Service Institution, Governor's Island. 
Open (free) daily, except Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Collec- 
tion of war relics and historic flags. 

New York Historical Society, Central Park West and Seventy-sixth 
Street. Open daily except Sunday; free on presentation of member's 
card. Collection of rare antiquities and paintings, manuscripts and 
books. The relics and prints of New York are of special interest. 

Historical Museum of the College of the City of Nezv York, Con- 
vent Avenue and One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street. Open (free) 
daily during the college year. Collection of prints and maps. 

Middle Dutch Reformed Church, Second Avenue and Seventh 
Street. See R. 11 7. 

St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery, Second Avenue and Eleventh Street. 
See R. II :2. 

397 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE 

Collegiate Church, Fifth Avenue and Forty-eighth Street (Lecture 
Room). See R. 17:5. 

Brick Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue and Thirty-seventh 
Street. See R. 17:2. 

John Street Methodist Church. See R. 7 134. 

St. Cornelius Chapel, Governor's Island. R. 4:46. 

Methodist Historical Society, Methodist Book Concern, Fifth Ave- 
nue and Twentieth Street. Rehcs in connection with Methodism in 
New York. 

Hotel Astor, Broadway and Forty-fifth Street. See R. 18 :B. 

Dolan's Cafe, 33 Park Row. See R. 5:15. 

Stewart's Cafe, 161 Fukon Street. See R. 5:17. 

Britting's Restaurant, 126 Greenwich Avenue. See R. 8:3. 

Hotel Netherland, Fifth Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street. Paint- 
ings : " The Purchase of Manhattan," and " Stuyvesant Receiving the 
EngHsh Terms of Surrender." 

Hotel Imperial, Broadway and Thirtieth Street. Painting : " Bowling 
in Bowling Green." 

New Amsterdam Theatre, 214 West Forty-second Street. Painting 
representing the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the 
Army on the Common, July 9, 1776. 

DeWitt Clinton High School, Fifty-ninth Street and Tenth Avenue. 

Mural paintings in connection with the Erie Canal. See R. 18: 
D. 

Police Headquarters, Centre Street, Mural painting: "Rattle Watch 
of New Amsterdam." 

Libraries. 

The New York Public Library, on the Astor Lenox Tilden Founda- 
tion. Main Building, Bryant Square (not yet completed). Reference 
Branches: Astor Library, 425 Lafayette Street, near Astor Place. 
Open (free) daily; Lenox Library, 890 Fifth Avenue (Seventieth 
Street). Open (free) daily. Collection of 11,500 volumes and 
pamphlets on local and state history ; 2,500 volumes and pamphlets 
of historical and patriotic society publications and 3,150 volumes and 
pamphlets of American genealogies. The collection of prints is of 
particular value. Exhibitions of rare books and prints are held at 
frequent intervals. 

398 



LIBRARIES Manhattan 

The Carnegie Circulating Branches are scattered over the city; 
these are usually open 9-9, a few until 10 p. m. ; several are open Sun- 
day. 

The Traveling Library, headquarters 190 Amsterdam Avenue, 
will arrange to make up and loan (free of expense) sets of books 
on various subjects for the use of schools, teachers and study clubs. 

The Library for the Blind publishes and circulates books in raised 
type. 

American Jewish Historical Society, 736 Lexington Avenue. Open 
to members and their friends. Collection of books referring to the 
history of the Jews on the American Continent. 

City Library, City Hall. Open (free) for reference 10-4; Saturday 
10-12. Collection of city records; reports and various municipal pub- 
lications. 

Columbia University, Low Memorial Library. Open 8:30 a. m.- 
II p. m. (8:30 a. m.-io p. m. in summer) ; daily, except Sunday; closed 
on Good Friday, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Free for inspection ; 
books may be used for reference by those properly recommended. The 
collection includes 450 titles on local history, embracing some of the 
rarest books and prints and 2,500 DeWitt Clinton letters. The 
Holland Society has deposited here its valuable collection of books 
on the early history and settlement of this country by the Dutch. 

Cooper Union Library, Astor Place. Open (free) daily 8 a. m.-io 
p. m. ; Sunday, October to May, 12 m.-9 p. m. Books for reference 
only. 

General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, 16-24 West Forty- 
fourth Street. Open 9-8. Reference department free to the public. 

Huguenot Society of America, 105 East Twenty-second Street. 
Open to members and their friends 9-5, except Sunday and holidays. 
Books relating to the settlement of America by the French. 

Mercantile Library, Clinton Hall and Astor Place. Open to sub- 
scribers. General collection of 300,000 volumes. 

New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Genealogical Hall, 
226 West Fifty-eighth Street. Open daily, except Sunday, 10-6; Mon- 
day evening, 8-10. Admission through member's card. Collection of 
New York town and county histories ; military records ; records of 
wills ; indexes to conveyances ; the Burhaus Collection of copies of 
New York church records; files of the Genealogical and Biographical 
Record from 1869. 

399 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE The Bronx 

New York Historical Society Library, 170 Central Park West. Open 
9-6, admission by member's card. 150,000 volumes and pamphlets on 
American (particularly New York) History. Occasional exhibits of 
rare books and prints. 

New York Society Library, 109 University Place, near Twelfth 
Street. Open 9-6. Free to the public for reference. Files of eighteen 
New York newspapers; rare prints; laws of New York from 1694; 
all the well-known histories and guide-books of New York; nearly 
all the New York Directories; reports of institutions, clubs and city 
departments. 

See also mention above of libraries of the American Geographical 
Society; American Numismatic Society; Hispanic Society of America; 
Methodist Historical Society; Staten Island Association of Arts and 
Sciences. 

THE BRONX. 

Botanical Garden, Bronx Park (R. 32). Reached by Harlem Divis- 
ion N. Y. C and H. R. R. R. to Bronx Park or Lenox Avenue Sub- 
way to One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street and (free) transfer to 
Suburban Branch of the Elevated R. R., to Bronx Park. Open (free) 
daily; buildings open 10-4. Exhibits. In the grounds: hardy herbace- 
ous plants, shrubs, trees and natural woodlands. In the conservato- 
ries: tropical and warm temperate zone plants. In the museums: 
plant products utilized in the arts, sciences and industries; illustra- 
tions of the natural families of plants, plants growing naturally within 
one hundred miles of New York ; fossil plants. Library : Herbaria ; 
Laboratories. Lectures on Saturday afternoons, autumn and spring. An 
attendant will explain the exhibits, leaving the museum at 3 p. m. 

Lorillard Mansion Museum, Bronx Park, east of the Botanical Gar- 
den. (R. 32). Open (free) 2-5 daily. Under the care of the Bronx 
Society of Arts and Sciences. Collection of natural specimens of 
the borough; specimens illustrative of the industries, educational fea- 
tures and park system of the Bronx ; Indian, Colonial and Revolution- 
ary relics; historical photographs and rare prints; a reference library. 



400 



The Bronx HISTORICAL MUSEUMS Brooklyn 

Zoological Garden, Bronx Park (R. 32). Reached by the Lenox 
Avenue Subway to One Hundred and Eighty-second Street, West 
Farms or by the Harlem Division N. Y. C. and H. R. R. R. to Ford- 
ham and thence by carriage or 15 minutes walk east, along the South- 
ern Boulevard. Under the care of the New York Zoological Society. 
Open daily 9 to half hour before sunset in summer, after lo in win- 
ter. Free except on Monday and Thursday (25c.); when a holiday 
falls on Monday or Thursday, the fee is remitted, but is charged on 
the day following. 

Van Cortlandt Mansion, Van Cortlandt Park (R. 29.) Open (free) 
daily except Sunday 10-6; Thursday 25c. Under the care of the 
Colonial Dames of the State of New York. Rooms fitted up in 
Colonial style; a collection of Revolutionary and Colonial relics. 
New York University Museum, under the Hall of Fame. (R. 30.) 
Open (free) daily during the college year. 

New York University General Library. Open daily, free on proper 
introduction. 

BROOKLYN. 

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Museum Building, Eastern 
Parkway and Washington Avenue. (R. 38). Open week days 9-6; 
Thursday evening 7:30-9:45; Sunday 2-6; free except Monday and 
Tuesday (if these are not holidays), when there is a fee of 25c for 
adults and loc. for children. Collections in natural and applied 
sciences ; paintings ; sculptures ; historical casts, etc. 

Children's Museum, Bedford Park and Brooklyn Avenue. Open 
(free) daily 9-5:30; Sundays 2-5:30. See R. 38:12. 

Municipal Collections. 

Hall of Records: Collection of portraits of recorders and other of- 
ficials. 

County Court House: Portraits of Supreme Court justices and 
other judges. 

Borough Hall: Portraits of mayors of the former City of Brooklyn. 
Long Island Historical Society, Clinton and Pierrepont Streets. Sec 
R. 36:6. Open (free) daily. 



401 



Queens HISTORICAL GUIDE Richmond 

Libraries. 

Brooklyn Public Library, central office, 26 Brevoort Place. Circu- 
lating branches in all parts of the borough. Open (free) daily g-g. 
Sunday 2-6. 

The department of Traveling Libraries, 197 Montague Street. 

Catholic Historical Society Library, loi Greene Avenue. 

Long Island Historical Society Library, Clinton and Pierrepont 
Streets. Open 8 :30-9 :30. Reference only for members and those in- 
troduced by members. Collection of 76,000 volumes largely on the 
history of Brooklyn and Long Island. 

Pratt Institute Library, Ryerson Street, between De Kalb and Wil- 
loughby Avenues. Open week days 9 a. m.-9:30 p. m. (free). Col- 
lection of 90,000 volumes. 

QUEENS. 

Bowne House, Flushing. Admission 25c. ; six people only allowed 
at a time ; larger parties must arrange in advance with Miss Parsons, 
371 Broadway, Flushing. See R. 51, 14. 

King Mansion, lamaica. Open (free) Monday; other days by spe- 
cial arrangement with Mrs. E. C. Chickering, Secretary King Manor 
Association, Jamaica. See R. 52, 6, 

Queens Borough Public Library, central office, 25 Clinton Avenue, 
Jamaica. Circulating branches in various parts of the borough. Usu- 
ally open daily (except Sunday) 9-9. 

RICHMOND. 

Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences, Borough Hall, St. 
George. Open (free) daily. Collection of natural specimens of 
Staten Island and historic relics, manuscripts, maps, etc. See R. 
53, I. 

Billop House, Tottenvillc. Open daily (small fee). R. 69:107. 



APPENDIX E— HISTORIC TREES, ROCKS AND OTHER 

OBJECTS. 

MANHATTAN. 

Two English Yews in front of the Low Memorial Library, Colum- 
bia University, said to have been brought from England about 1800 
and set out in St. John's Park; later removed to the Elgin Botanical 
Garden at Fiftieth Street (R. 17) ; removed to the Bloomingdale 
Asylum grounds and replanted at their present site in 1897. 

The IVistaria vines frequently seen in Greenwich (R. 8) are said 
to be descendants of those in Dr. Hosack's Arboretum in the Elgin 
Garden. 

A stunted English oak on the northwest side of the Mall, in Cen- 
tral Park, was placed here by the Prince of Wales (now Edward 
VII) while here in i860. 

A number of trees remain in East River Park imported from 
China and Japan by Thomas Hogg (R. 20) ; some have been removed 
to Central Park, among them the Japanese elm near the gate at 
Fifth Avenue and Seventy-second Street. 

Some of the trees in Washington Square are survivors of those set 
out when this was a Parade (R. 10). 

A double row of trees in Madison Square formerly lined the eastern 
branch of the Post Road (R. 15). 

In the churchyards of Trinity, St. Paul's and St. Mark's Churches 
are trees dating back to the first part of the last century. 

Many old trees remain in Union and Stuyvesant Squares and in 
Gramercy Park. 

The Sparrows' Lodging House on the north side of East One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-fifth Street, near First Avenue (old Harlem Lane), 
seems to be a favorite haunt of these birds. 

The giant tulip at Cold Spring (R. 28) is considerably over one 
hundred years old. There remains some of the primeval forest near 
by at the northern end of Manhattan on the hill overlooking the 
Hudson. 



403 



Manhattan HISTORICAL GUIDE The Bronx 

Trees That Have Disappeared, 

The Stuyi'csant F\^a}' Tree, once at the corner of Thirteenth Street 
and Third Avenue, now commemorated by a tablet (R. ii). Portions 
of this famous tree are preserved in the Governor's Room, City Hall, 
Police Headquarters and in the New York Historical Society Build- 
ing. A descendant of the original tree from a graft obtained by 
Jesse Ryder about i860 may be seen on the Ryder farm near Ossining. 

The Van Beiircn Tree stood until recently in front of the Van 
Beuren Mansion on the north side of Fourteenth Street (R. 14). 

The Varian Tree used to stand on Broadway between Twenty-sixth 
and Twenty-seventh Streets. 

The Thirteen Trees (sweet gum or liquid amber) brought from 
Mt. Vernon, Va., by Hamilton about 1802 remained on Convent Ave- 
nue and One Hundred and Forty-third Street until all died and were 
finally removed in 1908 (R. 23). 

The " grand old elm " (variously located by different writers, but 
probably at Striker's Bay, near the Hudson at Ninety-sixth Street), 
which inspired George P. Morris to write the lines beginning " Wood- 
man, spare that tree," was cut down only recently (R. 18). 

It is related that a favorite tree on the farm of Hendrick Brevoort 
prevented the cutting through of Eleventh Street between Broadway 
and Fourth Avenue. (R. 14). 

THE BRONX 

The Cowboy Oak at the end of Two Hundred and Thirty-seventh 
Street, west of the Spuyten Duyvil Parkway, is alleged to have 
been the scene of hangings during the Revolution (R. 29). 

The Washington Chestnut on Valentine Lane, now partially de- 
stroyed, is said to have been used by Washington as a place of conceal- 
ment (R. 29). 

The Delancey Pine still remains in Bronx Park (R. 34a). 

The Howe Chestnut under which the British general is said to 
have lunched, still stands near the Pell Mansion (R. 34). 

The Spy Oak of Revolutionary lore is near Westchester (R. 33a). 

The Pell Treaty Oak, now nearly destroyed, is near the Bartow 
Mansion (R. 34). 



404 



HISTORIC TREES AND ROCKS 

Hemlock Grove in the Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, is the oldest 
forest of native hemlocks in this part of the State (R. 32). 

The Stenton VVillozv near Fordham Square is nearly 300 years old 
(R. 24). 

Two cypresses, said to be the largest in the country, are at the foot 
of Cypress Avenue on what was once the Gouverneur Morris 
estate. 

BROOKLYN. 

" Amusketahole," a white oak marking the boundary line between 
Flatlands and Flatbush; on Avenue G, near Flatlands Neck Road. 
R. 40. 

QUEENS. 

The Maurice Woods, east of Maspeth, was the only extensive wood- 
land of Newtown to escape the ravages of the British when quartered 
in this part of Long Island. 

The forest once covering what is now Forest Park and Cypress 
Hills Cemetery, was reserved as hunting grounds for the Indians in 
their deed to Middelburg (R. 50). 

The site of Fox Oaks in Flushing is marked by a tablet (R. 51). 

NOTED ROCKS AND CAVES. 
MANHATTAN. 

The Capske Rocks near Whitehall Ferry, now under made land 
and revealed when the South Ferry Subway Station was constructed. 
R. I. 

The Smuggler's Cave was near the East River shore about Seven- 
tieth Street. R. 20. 

Marco Bozsaris Rock just north of Washington's Headquarters on 
West One Hundred and Sixty-second Street, where it is said Fitz- 
Greene Halleck composed his famous poem. R. 22,. 

Point of Rocks about One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Street and 
Convent Avenue (now largely cut away for street improvements), an 
outlook for Washington's sentinels in 1776. R. 19. 

Indian Rock Shelter at Cold Spring, within which many remains of 
Indians have recently been discovered. R. 28b. 

The Death Gap Rocks, Fort Washington, Bennett Avenue (One 
Hundred and Eighty-fourth Street), west of Broadway. R. 24. 

405 



The Bronx HISTORICAL GUIDE Historic Objects 

THE BRONX. 

Glacial Boulder in front of the Division Engineer's Office near the 
High Pressure Pumping-station of Jerome Park Reservoir. R. 30a. 
Rocking Stone, south end of Bronx Park. R. 32, 
Glover's Rock, near Bartow, on scene of the Battle of Pell's Point. 

R. 34. 

Split Rock, near the home of Ann Hutchinson, not far from Pelham 
Manor. R. 34. 

Pudding Rock, until recently on Boston Road and One Hundred 
and Sixty-sixth Street. R. 32. 

Seton Cave and the Indian Hiding Place near Eastchester. R. 
34a. 

The Devil's Stepping Stones jutting out in the Sound. R. 34. 

Rocks in East River at Hell Gate. R. 20. 

Diamond Reef in the Narrows. R. 42. 

HISTORIC OBJECTS. 

Revolutionary Cannon: (i) at Broadway and Exchange (Tin Pot) 
Alley, R. i. (2) at Pearl Street opposite Cedar Street, R. 7. (3) 
at Peck Slip and Water Street, R. 7. 

Dutch Millstones at the rear of 18 South William Street, R. 3. 

Millstones and Sundial in Van Cortlandt Park, R. 29. 

Dutch Millstone in sidewalk opposite 437 Jackson Avenue near 
North Plaza of Queensboro Bridge, Long Island City; from Brou- 
chard grist mill formerly on Dutch Kills Creek, brought from Hol- 
land about 1657. 

Old Church Bells: (i) in the churchyard of the Marble Collegiate 
Dutch Reformed Church, Twenty-ninth Street and Fifth Avenue, R> 
15. (2) in the steeple of the Fifth Avenue Dutch Reformed Church 
at Forty-eighth Street, R. 17. (3) in the Dutch Reformed Church at 
One Hundred and Twenty-first Street near Third Avenue, R. 22. (4) 
in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at Ridge and Grand Streets,. 

R. 13. 

Doliola, sun dial and marble seat from Italy in Grace Churchyard 
on Broadway and Tenth Street, R. 14. 

Pompeiian Columns at the entrance to Delmonico's at Beaver and 
South William Streets, R. 3. 

Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park. 

406 



INDEX 



Abbey, the, 167 

Abingdon road, 115 
square, 73 

Academy of Music, 109 

Alburtis house, 288 

Allen, Ethan, 54 

Allerton, Isaac, site of his warehouse, 
64 

All Saints' church, 99 

Ambleside, 198 

American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, 120 

Amity street, 81 

Anderson mansion, 187 

Androvette house, 350 

Appellate court house iii 

Apthorp mansion, site, 123 

Aquarium, the, 33 

Arbitration rock, 89 

Arnhem Village, 274, 287 ^ 

Arrochar, 338 

Arthur, Chester A., home of, 112 
statue of, III 

Artillery Park, 133 

Aspinwall house Flushing, 306 

Assay Office, U. S., 28 

Astor House, 59 
library, 93 

Astor Place Opera House, site, 93 

Astoria, 275, 281 

Methodist church, 283 

Audubon, home of, 153 
Park, 153 

Austin house, 337 

Baisley's mill pond, 313 
Bank, Merchants', 28 

of the Manhattan Company, 28 

of New York, 28 

street, 73 
Baretto, Francis J., former home, site, 

196 
Baretto's Point, 196 
Bark mill, 31 
Barne-Tysen house, 334 
Barnum's museum, site of, 57 
Barracks, the, of 1812, 73 
Bartow mansion, 210 
Battery, 33 

flagstaff, 34 

Place, 15 



Bathgate avenue house, site, 199 
Battle of Harlem Heights, 129 

Harlem Heights, tablet, 125 

Long Island, 225 

Pell's Point, 309 

Pass tablet, 245 
Bayard farm, 95 

Bayard, William, site of house, 73 
Beadell homestead, site, 232 
Bear market, 60 

swamp, 213 
Beaver pond, site, 310 

street, 31 
Bedell house, site, 345 
Bedford street Methodist church, 76 
Bedloe's Island, 35 

Beecher, Henry Ward, statue of, 242 
Beekman Hill, 133 

house, 133 

Place, 133 
Belden mansion, 209 
Bellevue Hospital, 113 
Belmont hall, site, 328 
Benham mansion^ site, 345 
Bennett homestead, 251 

homestead, Greenpoint, 231 

house, 164 
Bennett-Schermerhorn house, site, 

2-57 
Benson house, 260 
Bentley Manor, 349 
Bergen homestead, 249 
Jamaica, 313 

house, 262 

J C, site of house, 248 
Berrian burying ground, 182 

Cornelius, farm house of, 285 

farm house, 185 
Berrien's Lane, 285 
"Beth Haim," 108, 112 
Betts homestead site, Maspeth, 288 
Billopp house, 349 
Birdsall house, 247 
" Black Cat," The, 80 
Black Horse tavern, site, 167, 341 
Black swamp, 199 
Blackwell mansion, 283 

stone homestead, 283 
Blackwell's Island, 136, 281 
Blake-Miller house, 334 
Blazing Star, 347 



407 



INDEX 



Block-house, Flushing, 304 

No. I, 146; No. III. 126 
Blommaert's Vly, 31 
Blocm, Coh Bernardus, farm house 

of_ 300 
Bloomfield, Daniel, site of home of, 

297 
Bloomingdale, 9, 121 

Asylum, 125 

Dutch Reformed Church, 123 

road, 8 

square, 124 
Blue Bell tavern, site, 161 
Bodine's Inn, site, 333 
Bogardus, Dominie, tablet on site of 

house, 20 
Booth's theatre, site_ 112 
Borough Hall, Brooklyn, 242 
Botanical Gardens. 201; 400 

museum, 201 ; 400 
Bouwerie Lane, 7 
Bouwerie Village, 89 
Bowery Bay, 279 
road, 85 
school house, site, 279 

the, 95 

theatre, 97 
Bowling Green, 17 
Bowne homestead, Flushing, 306 

house, 207 

W. residence of, 309 
Bradford, William, 30 
Bradley farm house, site, 154 
Brannon Garden, 76 
Brettoniere house, 302 
Brevoort house, 134 
Brick Presbyterian church, 117 

church, site of, 57 
Bridewell, the, 54 
Bridge of Sighs, 98 
Brightside, home Col. R, M. Hoe, 

site, 198 
British battery. Flushing, site of, 304 

camp, Dutch Kills road, site, 291 

camps, site, 170, 171, 300, 302, 344 

earthworks, 155 

headquarters, 324, 341 

redoubt, 1 54 
Britton house, site, 341 

mill, 330 
Broad Street, 6 
Broadway, 5 
Broderick House, 75 
Bronck, Jonas, site of home, 195 
Bronx, oldest house, 204 

Park, 201 

river, 203 
Bronxdale, 213 
Brooklyn, early settlements, 225 



Brooklyn Heights, 241 

Institute of Arts and Sciences, 245 
Brower's mill, site, 257 
Bryant Park_ 117 

William , CuUen, home of, 107 
Buckhorn tavern, site, 112 
Bull's Head tavern, site, 97, 333 
Burger's sluice, 277 
Burns' Coffee House, 15 
Burr, Aaron, death place, 330 
former residence, 62 
law office of, 61 
Burroughs farm house, 294 

house, Newtown, 300 
Bushwick, 232 

churchyard, 232 
Bust of Alexander Hamilton, 124 

Alexander T. Holley, 80 

Edgar Allan Poe, 201 

Peter Turner, 242 

Washington Irving, 117 
Butler's hotel, site, 333 

Calamus road, 288, 302 
Calvary cemetery, 295 
Camp Hill, 341 
Canarsie Lane, 251 
Cannon Point, 133 
Carey Sisters, home of, no 
Carll's mill, 294 
Carrigan house, 125 
Casanova mansion, site, 196 
Casseltowne, manor of, 329 
Case's crew, 288 
Castle Bogardus, 281 

Garden, 33 

Hill, 203 

Stevens, 281 

William, 35 
Castleton hotel, 327 
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 125 
Cuyler homestead, Greenpoint, 231 
Cedar Grove cemetery, 308 

Point, 165 
Cemetery, N. Y. City Marble, 92 

X. Y. Marble, 92 
Central Park, 119 
" Century " house, site, 170 
Chamber of Commerce, 61 
Chapel of St. Cornelius, 35 
Chatham Garden, 65 

square, 97 
Cherry Hill, 64 

Lane, 196 

street, 64 
Chelsea, 115 

square, 116 
Children's Museum, Brooklyn, 245 
Christopher homestead, 333 



408 



INDEX 

-ristopher street square, &2 Corhin. Margaret, taUet, i6i 

Church da St. Esprit, 113 Corlaer's Hook Park, 99 

of St. Nicholas 19 Comer House, Xe mtowu , 301 

of the Holj XatiTity. 191 Coijoca, 293 

of the Sea and Land, 97 avcame. 294 

of the Tran^gnration, 98, 113 Corpus Ckristi nonastoy. 196 

Churchyard at New Utrecht, 259 Corsen-lTCS iMVose. 333 

City Hall, 53-4 Corson hoose, site, 334 

Colonial, 26 Cortdjoa house, 345 

Island, 209 ^mon, hoose, site, 258 

Claremont. the, 127 Con^yoo-Vanderveer house, site, 24S 

Clason's Point, 203 Cart]aiidt:*s, Uuper, 185 

Cleopatra's Xeedle, 120 County Cbort House, 55 

Clermont Terrace, 29S Court Hovbc, Jaaaica, ste, 3:2 

Oinch homestead, 339 Conwenhoiren house, 260 

Clinton, DeWitt, house, 287 Cowboy oak, 183 

statue of, 61 Cox, Sannd S,, statue o^ 93 

Got., statue, 21 Cox's tareni, 181 

Hall, 93 C fo c hc r o n house, 334 

first, site of, 57 CromutJ l farm house, ^?7 
Colnrd> Han, 98 house, 201 

Code hill, 172 Cro»ther homestead, 213 

Coe farm hou£e_ 294 Cross Keyes tarem, site, 153 

Coenties ADey, 30 Cn^er nanskm, 107 

Slip, 30 Cubberiy house, 342 

Coe's mill, 294 OicfaJdstounc, 343 
Coffee House. Burtj', 15 Inn, site. ^44 

Merchants'. 29 Cumbersoo house Woodside, 292 

Tontine, 29 Curtis, Geofige WSliam, house of. 329 
Cold ^ring, the, 172 hj^ si^otri, 327 

Colden, Gov. Cadwallader, estate of, Custon House, 19 

308 (old), 20 

Cole house, 342 
Coleman's Point, 329 

Collect pond, 78, 95 tenser's ncre- 530 

College Ptnnt, 275 Day's tavern, ste, 126 

of the City of New York, 151 Death Gap, 161 
Collegiate Dntch Reformed church, D cbct o is e homestead, 234 
119 Peter, house ol, 288 

School, 122 Deder house, 330 

Collins bouse, 211 DeHart house, 331 

Colonial burying ground, 170 DeHart-Bcrgcn house, ate, 257 

city hall, 26 DeGroot house, 329 

Han, Jamaica, 312 Ddancy street. 95 
Colonnade Row, 93 blocfchouse, site, 213 

Colombia CoUege, 59 house, site of. 60 

former sites, 119; 39 pine, 213 

heists, 241 Demilt avenue, 193 

Kbrary, 125 Ddmonico bnOdine. 32 

OduBBibus Cohnnn, 119 Deobm's uD, site, 237 

CfMiey Island, 261 Denyse's ferry, 238 

Conkling, Roscoe, statue of. iii De Pey^ter, .Mwaham, statue of. 1- 
Conselyea bouse, site. 23^ house, 62 

Cooper One factory, site, 233 De ^De house, site, 259 

bouses, Boshwick, 232 De Voor £am house, i^ 

Park, 232 Devoe house, Bushwick, 232 

Peter. 233 DeWitt OiBtoa EBeh Schm^ 122 
statue ci. 93 bouse, 287 

Union, 93 Park, 121 

-109 



INDEX 



Dircksen Volckert, former home of, Exchange Alley, 22 

Ditmars, A, D., house of, 284 

farm house, Jamaica, 313 
Ditmas, Henry S., house, 248 

John, house, 248 
Dolan's restaurant, 57 
Dominie's Hook, 2Tj 
Dongan Hills, 339 

house, site, 329 

plantation, 308 
Doughty, Rev. Francis, site of house, 

280 
Dow Suydam farm house, site, 296 
Drake, Joseph Rodman, grave of, 196 
Drovers' Inn, site, 212 
Dubois house, 330 
Duke's woods, Jamaica, site, 311 
Duryea farm house, site, Flushing, 
308 

homestead, 292 

house, 254 
Dutch church, Jamaica, 311 

Kills, 275 

Lane, Newtown, 299 

Reformed church, 147 
New Utrecht, 259 
Newtown, 299 
Port Richmond, 330 
Dyckman dwelling, 172 

house, site, 170 

Early road. Flushing, 304 

settlement of Brooklyn, 225 

Coney Island, 261 

Flatlands, 249 

Flushing, 304 

Gravesend, 261 

Greenpoint, 229 

New Utrecht, 259 

Newtown, 297 

North Beach, 279 

Queens Borough, 274 

Staten Island, 324 
East New York, 255 
Eastchester village, 214 
Edgar street, 22 
Egertville Academy, 343 
P21gin Botanical Garden, 119 
iCllis Island, 35 
Elm Tree beacon, 342 
Elmhurst, 297 
Emans house, 26 
Emerson Hill, 339 

Ralph Waldo, former home of, 339 
Erasmus Hall High School, 247 
Ericsson, John, former home, 78 

statue of, 33 
Essex market, 99 



Farmer's bridge, 169 
Farragut, Admiral, statue of, 11 1 
Fashion race course site of 293 
Featherbed Lane, 187, 288 
Ferris house (original), 205 

mansion, 204-5 

Point, 204 
Field, Jacob, site of house of, 303 
Fifth Avenue Hotel, site, 112 
Fire tower, 147 

First building of the Board of Educa- 
tion, 99 

city hall, tablet, 19 

church building in Newtown, 301 

dwellings. Flushing, 304 

Dutch church, 20 

elevated railroad, 59 

free school building, site, 55 

houses in Manhattan, tablet, 21 

Huguenot church, taljlet on site, 21 

landing place, Flushing, 304 

meeting house, Jamaica, site, 311 

Merchants' exchange, 30 

newspaper office, tablet, 30 

N. Y. State Prison, site, 75 

Presbyterian church, 26 
(old), 108 

printing press, tablet, 30 
Fish, Hamilton, birthplace, 89 
Fish's mill, 280 

store. Flushing road, 292 

tavern, Newtown, 301 
Five Points, the, 98 
Fitzroy road, 73 
Flatbush, 247 

Dutch Reformed church, 247 
Flatlands church, 249 

Neck, 251 

Reformed church, 251 

village, 263 
Flushing, 274, 304 

Fly brook, 283 

Institute, 307 

Market, 62 

old roads of, 304 

road, 297 

the block house, 304 

town pond, 304 
Font Hill, former home Edwin For- 
rest, 184 ' 
Fordham, 199 

Lane, 212 

l^niversity, 201 
Fordham's oldest house, 199 
Forrest, Edwin, former home, 184 
Forsyth Street Methodist church, 97 



410 



INDEX 



Fort Amsterdam, 3, 19 

Clinton, 146, 155 

Columbus, 35 

Diamond, 258 

Decker, 330 

Fish, 146 

Gansevoort, 73 

George, 155 

monument, 19 

Greene Park, 243 

Hamilton, 258 
(old), 309 

Hill, 327 

Horn, 126 

Jay, 3 5 

Knyphausen, 164 

Lafayette, 258 

Nos. I, 2 and 3, sites, 185; 4, 5, 
190; 7, 8, 189 

Prince Charles, 169 

Putnam, 243 

Schuyler, 204 

Tompkins, 338 

Tryon, 167 

Wadsworth, 338 

Washington, 161, 164 
Point, 165 
Fountain house, site, 329, 341 
Fowler mansion, 214 
Fox Corners, 197 

George, mansion, 196 

Oaks, Flushing, 306 
Foxhurst mansion, 197 
Francis mansion, 187 
Frankfort street, 57 

Franklin, Walter, tablet on site of 
home, 64 
Benjamin, statues of, 57 
Fraunces tavern, 30, 41-7 
Freek's mill, site, 257 
French Academy, 154 

Church du St. Esprit, site, 61 
Fresh Kills, 345 

Meadow road. Flushing, 304 
tract, 308 
Friends' Meeting House, site, 61 
Fulton, Robert, place of his death, 15 

Fulton Memorial Tablet, 25 
Furman house, 287 

Judge, house of, 295 
Furman's Island, 287 
Furmansville road, 295 
Furniss house, 123 

William P., house of, 123 



Gansevoort market, 73 
Garibaldi house, 337 
statue of, 80 



Garretson, 339 

house. Flushing, 307 
site, 349 
George III., statue of, 17 
Georgi house, site, 212 
General Theological Seminary, 116 
Gerritsen tide mill, 250 
Ghetto, the, 99 
Glover's Rock, 209 
Golden Hill Inn, 62 

site of fight of, tablet, 63 
Gouverneur Morris mansion, site, 195 
Government House, 19 
Governor's Garden, 57 

Island, 34 
Gowanus canal, 257 

Creek, 257 
Grace churchyard, 109 

Court spring, 241 

Episcopal Church, ^^ 
Brooklyn, 241 
Jamaica, 312 
Gracie house, 135 
Gramercy Park, no 
Grant's tomb, 126 
" Grape-vine," the, 108 
Grave of A. T. Stewart, 89 
Gravesend, 261 

town cemetery, 262 
Great fire of 1835, tablet, 30 
Greeley, Horace, home of, no 
statue of, 57 
summer home of, 133 
Greenpoint, 229 
Greenport, 275 
Greenwich avenue, 73 

street, 8, 15 

Village, 8, 71 
Greenwood cemetery, 257 

house, Jamaica, 313 
Groshon house, 214 
Grote house, 343 
Grove street, 75 
school, 75 
Guion Inn, site, 214 
Gutenberg, statue of, 99 
Guyon-Clarke house, 342 



Hadley house, 184 

Hale, Nathan, statue of, 54 

Hall of Records, 55 

Hallett burying ground, site, 283 
family, 281 
house, 281 

James, site of house of, 283 
John, site of farm house of, 278 
Samuel, farm house, 278 
Wm., site of house of, 278 



411 



INDEX 



Hallett's cove, 281 

Lane, 283 

Point, 281 
Hamilton, Alexander, bust of, 124 
country seat, 151 
house where he died, 73 
law office of, 28 
statue of, 61 

Fish Park, 92 

Grange, 151 

Hall, Flushing, 305 
Hammer hotel, site, 212 
Hammond house, 205 
Hanover square, 30 
Harlem Heights, Battle of, 129 
Hart's Island, 210 
Hastings, town of, 275 
Havemeyer estate, 205 
Havens house, 191 
Hays house, 167 
Hazard homestead, 29 
Heemstede, 27 5 
Hell Gate, 136, 281 

Bay, 147 
Hemlock grove, 201 
Hempstead, 274 

swamp, 296 
Henricus Agricola, 279 
Hermitage, the, 191 
Hessian spring, site of, 164 
Hessians Springs, 327 
High Bridge, 154 
Hicks-Platt house, 262 
Hicksville, 275 

Hoe, Col. R. M., site former home, 
Brightside, 198 

Peter, former home, Sunnyside, 
196 
Hoffman Boulevard, 302 
Hoffman's Island, 347 
Holland's ferry, site, 171 

Hook, 331 
Holley, Alexander T., bust of, 80 
Holy Spring house, 345 
Holyrood Protestant Episcopal church, 

161 
Home of Bayard Taylor, 109 

Capt. Kidd, 30 

Chester A. Arthur, 112 

Daniel Webster, 17 

Edwin Forrest, 116 

Horace Greeley, no 

John Morton, 19 

the Cary Sisters, no 

William Cullen Bryant, 107 
Hopper, Yalless, house site, 135 
Horn's Hook, 135 
Horse brook, Newtown, 300 
road, 302 



Horticultural Hall, 201 
H'orton homestead, 209 
Hotel Astor, 120 

Gruetli, 22 

Raleigh, 100 

Washington, 15 
House by the Mill, 345 

of Andrew Carrigan, 125 

Gov. Stuyvesant, 20 

Refuge, old, site of, 113 

Samuel J. Tilden, no 

Washington Irving, 109 

where James Monroe died, 100 
Housman house, site, 331 
Howard farm house, Newtown, 300 
Howard's Half-way house, site, 255 
Howe, Sir William, headquarters, 302 
Hudson Park, 76 
Hunt burying ground, 196 

house, 212 

Inn, site, 197 

Jonathan, farm house of, 302 

mansion, 197 
Hunter-Iselin mansion, 210 
Hunter's Island, 210 

Point, 275, 2-]j 
Huntington, C. P., former summer 

home, 205 
Hunt's Point, 197, 203 
Hustace house, 191 

Hutchinson, Ann, site of early home, 
211 

river bridge, 211 
Hyatt's tavern, site, 169 

Indian burying ground, 209, 331, 347 
fortifications, 214 
rock dwelling, 172 
trail, 147 
village site, 213 
Iron Hill, 339 

Irving, Washington, bust of, 117 
home of, 109 
former home, 62 

Jack-Knife, the, 62 

Jackson avenue, Hunter's Point, 291 

iiiansion, 291 
Jackson's mill-pond, 280 
Jacques house, 330 
Jacobsen house, 342 
Jamaica, 274, 310 

town burial ground, 310 
Jay, John, statue of, 61 
Jefferson market, 82 

Thomas, site of N. V. home, 61 
Jeffrey's Hook, 165 
Jennings homestead, site, 212 
Jessup house, site, 196 



INDEX 



Jews' Burial Ground, 97 
John Street M. E. church, 62 

theatre, site, 62 
Johnson's tavern, site, 213 
Joncker's Island, 293 
Jones' Wood, site, 134 
Jumel mansion, 153, 156-9 

Kalch Hock, 78 

Kennedy house, the, 15 

Kidd, Capt., site of home, 30 

Kieft's tavern, 30 

King mansion, Jamaica, 312 

Park, 312 
King's Arms tavern, 15 

bridge, 168 

College, 59 
Kingsbridge, 181 

road, 9 
Kip's Bay, 133 

mill, 280 
Knickerbocker Cottage, 114 
Kouwenhoven farm house, 279 

house, Steinway, 285 
Kreisherville, 349 
Kreuzer-Pelton house, 328 

Labon's Inn, site, 243 
Lafayette Lane, 196 

statue of, 107; portrait, 53 
La Grange Terrace, 93 
Lake-Croak house, 331 
Lake house, 262 

Tysen house, 342 
Land poort (gate), 26 
Latourette house, site, 344 
Laura Keene's theatre, site, 100 
Laurel Hill, 155 
Lawrence farm house, 309 

homestead site, Flushing, 304 

house, 184, 308 

Jonathan, former home of, 284 

Lane, 283 

Neck road. Flushing, 304 
Lefferts homestead, 247 
Leggett burying ground, 196 
Leggett's Lane, 196 
Lent farm house, Corona, 293 
Lewis, Francis, tablet to memory of, 

307 
Libby Castle, 167 
Liberty pole. New Utrecht, 260 

tablet, 54 
Limerick, Earl of, plantation of, 308 
Lincoln, statue of, 107 
Linnaean Botanic Garden, 304 
Linoleumville, 334 
Little Church Around the Corner, 113 

Commons, Newtown, 299 



Little Hell Gate, 137 

Mill Rock, 281 
Livingston sugar house, 61 
Lodowick's brook, 279 
London terrace, 116 
Long Island, battle of, 225 

City, incorporation, 275 
Historical Society, 242 
Neck, 333 
Lord Howe Chestnut, 211 
Lorillard falls, 201 

Jacob, house, 199 

Mansion Museum, 201 

snufif mill, 202 
Lott house, 249 
Love Lane, 115 
Lovejoy's Hotel, site of, 57 
Lubbert's swamp, 278 
Ludlow house, Newtown, 300 

street jail, 99 
Lutheran church, 23 
Lydig's mills, 213 



McComb mansion, 21 
McGowns Pass Tavern, 145 
McKinley Square, 21 
Macdonald, John, private insane asy- 
lum, 307 
Macedonia Hotel, 210 
Macomb mansion, 181 
Madison Square, 11 1 

Garden, iii 
Maiden Lane, 7, 61 
Manhattan Water Tank, the, 98 
Manhattanville, 127 
Manor house, Bushwick, 234 
Marble Arch, the, 169 

Hill, 168 

Collegiate Reformed church, 114 
Mariners' Temple, 97 
Market, Bear, 60 

Washington, 60 

West Washington, 60 
Marketfield street, 21 
Marshall mansion, 209 
Martyr's tomb, 243 
Maryland monument, 246 
Maspeth, 287 
Maurice Woods 288 
Meal Market, 29 
Merchant's bank, 28 

Coffee House, 29 
Mersereau house, 332 

Valley, 339 
Meserole family, 229 

homestead, 231 
Mespatkill, 274 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 120 



413 



INDEX 



Metropolitan Opera House, first 

site, I CO 
Middleburg, 274 
Middle Dutch church, 91 
site, 61 

Village, 295 
Midwout, 247 
Mile-stone, first, 97; 371 et seq 

second, 91 

fourth, 133 

fifth, 133 

ninth, 151 

tenth, 212 

eleventh, 161 

twelfth, 169 

fifteenth, 184, 213 
Mill brook, 21 

creek, 147 

camp, the, 147 

lane, 31, 214 

rock, 136 
Milligan Place, 108 
Minetta street, 81; lane, 81 
Minniesland, home of Audubon, 

153 
Mitchell house. Flushing. 306 
Monroe, James, death place, 100 
Montague's creek, 147 

Point, 147 
Monument, Fort George. 19 

in memory of Baron Steuben, 135 
Monuments of Greenwood cemetery, 

■257 
Moore farm house, site, 291 

house, 161, 278, 297 

Samuel, former home of, 297 
Moravian cemetery, 339 
Morgan residence, site, 214 
Morningside heights, 125 
Morosini mansion, 184 
Morris farmhouse, 199 

Gouverneur, mansion, site, 195 

High School, 195 

Lewis, site of home, 195 

Roger, mansion, 153 

\Vm. H., mansion, 199 
Morrisania, 199 
Morrisania's oldest house, 199 
Morse, S. F. B., tablet on site of 

home, 112 
Morton, Gen., former home, 76 

John, home of, 19 
Mott homestead, 121 

mansion, 195 

Memorial Dutch Reformed church, 
195 
Mount Morris Park, 147 
Ml Napoleon (Stevens house), 281 
Mt. Tompkins, 335 
Mt. Zion cemetery, 288 



Mouquin's restaurant, 114 
Mulberry Bend Park, 98 
Murray Hill, 117, 309 

homestead, 309 

house, site of, 117 
Museum of the Hispanic Society of 
America, 153 

of the Numismatic Society, 153 

Narrow Passage, the, 291 

Narrows, the, 258 

Nautilus Hall, site, 335 

Navy Yard, 235, 243-4 

Neck Road, 262 

Negro burying ground, Newtown, 299 

site, 170 
Neville house, 328 
New Blazing Star, 334 
Dorp, 339 
Lots, 253 

churchyard, 204 
Dutch Reformed church, 253 

old school, 254 
Spring\-ille, 333 
street, 21 
Utrecht, 259 

old school house, site, 260 
Newton Hotel, Elmhurst, 299 

spring, 292 
New York City Marble cemetery, 92 
Marble cemetery, 92 
Public Library, 117 
Society Library, 109 
University bridge, 170 
L'niversity building (old), 80 
Newtown, 274 

and Bushwick turnpike, 288 

avenue, 294 

Baptist church, site, 302 

churches, 299 

first church building, site, 301 

Hotel, site, 300 

old colonial house, 300 

old town watering place, 300 

Parsonage, farm house, 303 

Presbyterian church, 302 

Quaker Meetinghouse, site, 303 

site of Gen. Robertson's (British) 

camp, 300 
old hotel 300 
old Town House, 299 
the " Corner House," 301 
town burying ground, 300 
halls, 300 
spring, 300 
village, 297 
Niblo's Garden and Theatre, site, 100 
Nieuw Amersfoot, 249 

Haarlem, 147 
Nolan house, site, 347 



414 



INDEX 



Nolan's Hotel, 199 
North Beach, 279 

Brother Island, 203 

cominonfield, Newtown, 299 

Dutch church, site, 63 

Fort, 79 
Xorthern Dispensary, 82 
Nostrand house, 259 
Nottston, 2^J^ 
Nutter's Battery, 146 

Oak villa, site, 123 
(Oakley house site, 347 
< )deirs barns, 214 
(Jdellville, 133 
Ogden mansion, 211 
Old Bowery road, 278 

Brook school-house, site, 288 
school road, 288 

City Island bridge, 209 

Flushing road, 289 

Mill, 253 

village, 253 

Newtown town burying ground, 300 

Place mill, site, 331 

Roads of Flushing, 304 

" Swamp," tablet commemorating, 
64 

Stone Gate house, 199 
Jug, 212 

Tabernacle, site, 349 

Tom's chop house, 60 

Westchester ferry, 309 

Windmill, Jamaica, site, 313 

Wreck Brook, 65 
Oliver Street Baptist church, site, 97 
Oude Dorp, 325 
Out Plantations, the, 274 
Oyster Island, 35 

market, "j^ 
Paine, Thomas, site of old home, 81 
Paisley Place, 107 
Parade ground, the, 182 
Paradise Park, 98 
Park avenue tunnel, 117 

theatre, site of, 57 
Parsonage farm house, Newtown, 303 
Patten house, site, 341 
Patti, Adelina, former home, 193 
Paul house, 205 
Pavilion Hill 335 

hotel, 327 
Paynter house, 277 
Pearl street, 20, 30, 31 
Peck house, 253 
Pell family burying ground 210 

house, 211 

manor house, site, 210 

mansion, 211 

treaty oak, 210 



Penfield homestead, 193 
Pero-Christopher house, 333 
Perrine homestead, 339 
Peter Cooper tenements, 2j,t, 
Petticoat Lane, 21 
Piewoman's Lane, 26 
Pitt, William, statue of, 28 
Planters' hotel, 335 
Plymouth church, 241 
Poe cottage, 123, 201 

Edgar Allen, former home, 201 

Park, 201 
Point of Rocks, 126 
Poor Bowery, the, 279 
Port ^lorris, 196, 203 

Richmond, 330 
Porter, Gen. Josiah statue of -82 
Post house, 331 
Post office, 54 
Post's tavern, site, 165 
Pot Cove, 281 
Potter's field, 210 

Praa, Peter, house at Greenpoint, 231 
Prime house, 135 
Presbyterian church, Astoria, 283 
Jamaica, 312 
Newtown, 302 
Prince mansion. Flushing, 305 
Prince's Nursery, 304 
Progress Hall, 330 
Prospect Hill avenue, 211 

Park, 245 
Pudding Rock, 212 
Purdy farm house, 291 

mansion, 213 
Purdy's hotel, 350 

Quaker meetinghouse. Flushing, 305 

Newtown, site, 303 
Quarantine ferry landing, 22^ 
Queensboro bridge, 227 
Queen's Farm, 8 

Head tavern, 287 
Quiet Dale, 147 

Randall's Island, 137 

Rapalye, Abraham, farm house, 280 

house, 254 

house, Bowery Bay, 279 

house, Woodside, 292 

mill, 294 

Peter, house of, 285 
Rattlesnake brook, 214 

spring, 292 
Ravenswood, 281 
Reason street, 81 

Reeder, Joseph, site of house of, New- 
town, 300 
Reformed Dutch church, Hallett's 
Cove, 283 



415 



INDEX 



Reformed Dutch church of Bush- 
wick, 2:^2 
Raid's mill, 214 

miller's house, 214 
Remsen farm house, 296 

house, site, 241 
Renne, Samuel, house of, Newtown, 

302 
Revolutionary cannon, 21, 62, 64 

house at Williamshridge, 191 
Rhinelander sugar house, site, 65 
Richardson house, site, 196 
Richmond, 343 

county court houses, 344 

Hill mansion, site, 76 

Terrace, 329 

valley, 349 
Ridge road to Dutch Kills, site of, 

278 
Ridgeway house, 334 
Riker farm house, 291 

homestead, 279 
Roberts, homestead, 205 
Robinson, Morris, tablet commemo- 
rating, 29 
Rocking stone, the, 202 
Rocky Hill road. Flushing, 304 
Roosevelt street, 65 
Rose and Crown, house, site, 341 

Hill Manor, 201 
Rossville, 347 
Rotunda, the, site of, 55 
Rustdorp, 310 
Rutger's mansion, site, 78 
Ryder's Alley, 63 

Lane, 250 
Ryerson's Mill, 277 



Sailor's Snug Harbor, 328 
St. Alphonsus' church, 78 

Andrew's church, Richmond, 343 
Ann's Episcopal church, 195 

Hall, Flushing, 307 
Anthony's R. C. church, original, 

231 
Clement's church, 81 
Cornelius, chapel of, 35 
George, 327 
George's building, 63 
church, 91 
Episcopal church, Astoria, 283 
Flushing, 307 
James' church, Newtown, 299 

Episco])al church, Newtown, 300 
hotel. Port Richmond, 330 
Pro-Cathedral, 242 
John's cemetery, 295 
cemetery, site, 76 



St. John's chapel, 78 
College, 201 
Lane, 78 
Lutheran church, 81 

New Utrecht, 259 
Park, 78 

Joseph's Academy, 307 

Luke's chapel, 75 

Mark's Hotel, 327 

Mark's-in-the-Bowery, 89 

Mary's R. C. church, 99 

Michael's Episcopal church, 123 

Ronan's Well, 293 

Patrick's Cathedral, 119 
R. C. church, 100 

Paul's chapel, 58 

church, Eastchester, 214 

Peter's church, 59, 116 
Westchester, 207 
Rectory, Westchester, 207 

Thomas, Hall, Flushing, 307 
Samler house, 184 
Sands Street church (old), 241 
Sanford Hall, Flushing, 307 
Santa Anna, Gen., residence of, 330 
Sappokanican, 8, 71 
Schenck-Crooke house, 249 
Schenck house, Canarsie, 254 
Schermerhorn farm house, site, 134 

mansion, 112 
Schreyer's Hock, 20 
Scott-Edwards house, 329 
Scott, Winfield, mansion, 135 
Screven's Point, 203 
Seguine house, 345 
Seguine's Point, 347 
Seton cave, 214 

falls, 214 
Seward, Wm. H., statue of, iii 
Shakespeare Tavern, site, 63 
Shell road Newtown, 298 
Sherman, W. T. Gen., statue of, 

119 
Sherman's creek, 171 
" Shoemaker's Pasture," 64 
Shore Road Boulevard, 283 
Shot tower, Youle's, site of, 134 
Sign of the Goose, 73 
Simonson house, site, 334 
Sims, Dr. J. Marion, statue of, 117 
Skillman house, site, 234 
Skillman avenue, 277 
Smith's Folly, 134 
Smith's Island, 274, 287 

Meadows, Newtown, 303 
Snedeker home, 254 

house, 253 
Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial 
Arch, 245 



416 



INDEX 



Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, 123 
Somerindyke house, site, 122 
South Brother Island, 203 

Dutch church, site, 32 
Spencer mansion, site, 81 
Split Rock, 211 
Spring Hill estate, 308 

street church, 76 
Springsteen homestead, 295 
Spy house, the, site, 212 

oak, the, 205 
Stadt Huys, 30 
State Street, 19 
Staten Island, 324-50 

Association of Arts and Sci- 
ences, 2^7 
Statue of Abraham de Peyster, 17 

Admiral Farragut, 1 1 1 

Alexander Hamilton, 61, 125 

Benjamin Franklin, 57 

Chester A. Arthur, 1 1 1 

DeWitt Clinton, 61 

Dr. J. Marion Sims, 117 

Henry Hudson, 21 

Henry Ward Beecher, 242 

Horace Greeley, 57 

Garibaldi, 80 

Gen. Josiah Porter, 182 

Gen, Sherman, 119 

Gen. Wolfe, 21 

George III, 17 

Gov. Clinton, 21 

Gutenberg, 57, 99 

John Ericsson, 33 

John Jay, 61 

Lafayette, 107 

Liberty, 35 

Lincoln, 107 

Nathan Hale, 54 

Peter Cooper, 93 

Peter Stuyvesant, 21 

Roscoe Conkling, :ii 

Samuel S. Cox, 93 

Washington, 26, 106, 227 

William H. Seward, iii 

William Pitt, 28 
Statues in Prospect Park, 246 
Statues: Appendix B 
Steinway, 285 
Stenton residence, 201 
Stepping Stones light, 210 
Steuben, Baron, monument in mem- 
ory of, 135 
Stevens house, 17 

house (Mt. Napoleon), 281 
Stewart, A. T., grave of, 89 
Stillwell house, 262 
Stock Exchange, 33 
Stone street, 30 



Stony Brook, 339, 341 
Streets of early New York, 5 
Strickland's tavern, 308 
Striker, Gen. Garrit Hooper, site of 
mansion of, 121 

house, 248 
Striker's Bay mansion, site, 123 
Strong's causeway, 294 
Stuyvesant, Gov., house of, 20 

Gov., tomb of, 89 

Nicholas, former home, 89 

Peter, statue, 21 

residence (old), 91 

square, 91 
Stuyvesant's " Bouwerie House," 91 
Sub-treasury, 26 
Suicide slip, 78 
Sun Building, 57 
Sunnyside, former home Peter Hoe, 

196 
Sunset Lane, 165 
Sunswick creek, 283 

Suydam, Dow, site of homestead of, 
296 

house, site, 255 
Suydam's mill, 283 
Swan hotel, 329 
Swinburne Island, 347 
Sylvan Place, 147 

Tablet, at Battle Pass, Valley Grove, 
245 
commemorating assault on Fort 
Washington, 152 
Lafayette's visit to Grove St, 

School, 75 
Liberty Pole, 54 
meeting of Washington and 

Putnam, 121 
Morris Robinson, 29 
N, Y. City defenses War of 

1812, 126 
old " Swamp," 64 
prison ship martyrs, 243 
death place of James Monroe, 100 
first excavation for subway, 54 
Fox Oaks, Flushing, 306 
great fire of 1835, 30 
house of Dominie Bogardus, 20 
in memory of Francis Lewis, 
Flushing, 307 
Margaret Corbin, 161 
line of American intrenchments, 
151 
defense, battle of Long Island, 
243 
Marinus Willett, 32 
marking third line of American 
intrenchments, 153 



417 



INDEX 



Tablet on Glover's rock, 209 

Liberty pole, New Utrecht, 260 

IMiddle Dutch church, 92 

old battle ground, Woodlawu 

heights, 183 
Tower building, 21 
site fight of Golden Hill, 63 
site first Brooklyn district 

school, 242 
first city hall, 19 
houses, 21 

Huguenot church, 21 
newspaper office, 30 
printing press, 30 
home S. F. B. Morse, 112 
home Walter Franklin, 64 
Isaac Allerton's warehouse, 64 
King's College, 59 
of battle Harlem Heights, 125 
Block House No. 3, 126 
Booth's theatre, 112 
de Lancey house, 60 
Fort Washington, 164 
Kieft's tavern, 30 
Middle Dutch church, 61 
Murray house, 117 
old Register's office, 55 
Peter Stuyvesant's pear tree, 91 
Rhinelander sugar house, 65 
Shakespeare's Tavern, 63 
Vechten-Cortelyou house, 257 
Oliver Street Baptist church, 97 
veterans 9th Regt., 108 
Washington, on Sub-treasury, 28 
Washington's departure in 1783, 

20 
West street improvement, 75 
Tablets: Appendix B 
Tammany Hall, 109 
Taylor, Bayard, home of, 109 
Thalia theatre, the, 97 
Thames street, 60 
Theatre Alley, 57 
Throgg's Neck, 203 
Tin Pot Alley, 22 
Tippett's mansion, 185 
Tilden, Samuel J., house of, no 
Titus, Content, site of " new house " 

of, 298 
Titus' mill, 294 
Todt Hill, 339 
Tomb of Gov. D. T. Tompkins, 89 

Gov. Stuyvesant, 89 
Tombs, the, 98 
Tompkins farm house, 295 
Gov. D. T, tomb of, 89 
Tontine building, 29 
Coffee House, 29 
Tottenville, 349 
Tower building, 21 



Town burying ground, Jamaica, 310 
cemetery, Bushwick, 234 
dock, Maspeth, 287 
Hall (fifth), Newtown, site, 300 
(sixth), Newtown, 300 
Williamsburg, site, 228 
House of Middleburg, site, 299 
(second), Newtown, site, 299 
site, Bushwick, 232 
(third), Newtown, 299 
pond. Flushing, 304 
spring, Newtown, 300 

Woodside, 292 
watering place. Corona, 294 
Newtown, 298 
Townsend, Henry, site of house, Ja- 
maica, 313 
Trains Meadow, 279 
Trinity cemetery, 152 
church, 23 
churchyard, 25 
Trotting Course Lane, 295 
Tunissen's Neck, 331 
Turner, Peter, bust of, 24 
Turtle Bay, 133 
Twain, Mark, former home, 184 
Twelfth street school (old), 109 
Twin Island, 211 
Tyler house, 329 

Underbill burying ground, 213 

Covert farm house, 288 
Union avenue, Newtown, 299 

Hill academy, 312 

Hotel, Newtown, 301 

House, site, 112, 349 

road, old, 107 

square, 106 

Theological Seminary, 126 
United States Arsenal, site, in 
Marine Hospital, 235 
Hotel, site, 63 
Upper Cortlandt's, 185 

Valentine farm house, 201 

farm house, site, 193 
Vallence's bark mill, 302 
Van Alst avenue, 283 

house, site, 277 
Beuren house, 107 
Brunt house, 253, 259 
Buren, Gen., home of, 335 
Cleef house, 262 
Cortlandt house, original site, 182 

lake, 182 

mansion, 181 

grist mill, site, 182 

gardener's cottage, 185 

miller's house, 184 
der Donck house, site, 182 
den Henvel mansion, site, 123 



418 



INDEX 



Van Duyn homestead, 296 
Keulen's Hook, 149 
Nuyse-Magaw homestead, 251 
Pelt Academy, 330 

house, 260 

manor house, 260 
Pelt Decker house, 331 
Raust house, site, 234 
Schaick mansion, 205 
Sicklen house, 254 

house, Jamaica, 313 
Sinderen house, 254 
Wicklen mill, 253 
Wyck homestead, 249 

house, 251 

house, Jamaica, 312 
Vanderbilt, Commodore, former home, 

homestead, 247 

Wm. H., former farm of, 342 
Vanderveer homestead, 248 

house, 254 

mill, site, 248, 254 
Varian, Isaac, homestead, 191 
Vault Hill, 182 
Vauxhall Garden, 93 
Vechten-Cortelyou house, site and 

tablet, 257 
Vernon avenue, z^y 
Verlett's hill, 21 

Verveelen's first ferry to Bronx, 149 
Vincent-Halsey house, 214 
Victor house, Newtown, 297 
Vleigh brook, 283 
Vlissingen, 275 
Volckersten, Dirck, site of house of, 

231 
Voorhees house, 259 
Voorhees-Sheppard house, 262 
Vredeland, 207 
Vreeland house, site, 333 

Wall Street, 5, 6, 26 
Wallabout Bay, 244 

market, 235 
Walton House, site, 64 
Ward house, 328 
Ward's Island, 137, 281 
Warren house, site, 73 
Washington building, 15 

Hotel, 15 

market, 60 

memorial arch, 80 
y^ square, 80 

statue of, zd, 106, 227 
Washington's departure in 1783, tab- 
let, 20 

chestnut, 184 

gun house, 193 

headquarters, 153, 156-9 



Washington's landing, site, 79 
Washingtonville, 193 
Water poort (gate), 26 
Way farm house, site, Newtown, 287 
Webster, Daniel, home, 17 
Weehawken duelling grounds, 124 
Wessell's brook, 279 
West India Company, 20, 22, 31 
stone shops, 20 

Farms, 2 1 3 

Presbyterian church, 213 

house, 308 

Riding of Yorkshire, 275 

Washington market, 60 
Westchester creek causeway, 207 

village, 205, 207 
White Hall, 20 

Horse Inn, 21 
Whitepot road, 295 

school, 295 
Whitestone, 275, 309 

road. Flushing, 304 
Wiman, Erastus, house of, 345 
Winant house, 347 
Wilkins homestead, 203 
Willett burying ground, 308 

family tract, 308 

Marinus, tablet, 32 
Wm. H. Seward Park, 99 
William street, 30 
Williams house, Williamsbridge, site, 

191 
Williamsbridge, 191 
Williamsburg, 227 
Williamson house, 262 
Wiltsee house, Astoria, 284 
Wolf pit, 334 

Pit Hill farm, 309 

swamp, 291 
Wolfe, Gen., statue, 21 
Wolf's Lane, 211 
Wood Point road, 2^2 
Woodard house, 289 
Woodhull, Gen., death-place, 259 
Woodlawn cemetery, 193 
Woods of Arden house, 347 
Woodside, 291 

avenue, 291 
Woolsey, Edward, site of house of, 

284 
Worth monument, 1 1 1 
Wright homestead, 308 
Wyckoff farm house, Newtown, 289 

house, 255 

house, Steinway, 285 

Yorkville, 133 

Zbrowski mansion, 199 
Zerega's Point 204 



419 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE CITY HISTORY CLUB. 

(Mailed on receipt of price by Secretary, City History Club, 21 West 
Forty-fourth Street.) 

Syllabus of a Course of Study on the History of New York, with 
suggestive questions on the Dutch Period ; 10 cents. 

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City History Club Leaflet No. i, "An Early Excise Law; The 
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* Teacher's Handbook : Outlines of a Course of Study in Local 
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Teacher's Handbook of the Government of New York City : an 
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Historical Souvenir Postals: 10 cents per set of five (2 series). 

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* Historical Excl~rsion Leaflets: sold separately; Nos: I-VII; 5 
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* On the Supply List of the Board of Education, 

420 



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